Golfers are being urged to do their bit to support Hartlepool's RNLI

Golf event organisers Malcolm Wallis and Tommy Price(right). Image: RNLI Tom Collins.

The RNLI national campaign - Do your bit, fund our kit – will help save lives at sea.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution wants golfers to join them for the Mayday golf event at Seaton Carew Golf Course to help raise vital funds for crew kit.

Volunteer lifeboat crews across the UK and Ireland launched 8,964 times in 2018, rescuing 9,412 people – an increase of 17% on 2017.

In Hartlepool the crew launched 50 times, rescuing 62 people in trouble in the water and saved one life – rescues which are only possible because of the donations made to the charity by supporters.

Organised by Hartlepool RNLI the Mayday fundraiser, on Monday, May 28, will see teams of three take part in the golfing event.

Money raised through Mayday fundraising events like this one will help RNLI lifeboat crews to face the harshest conditions at sea with the best kit possible.

It currently costs £2,161 to provide one all-weather lifeboat crew member with all the kit they need when responding to the call for help.

Hartlepool RNLI treasurer, Malcolm Wallis, who is organising the town event, said: "When the charity’s annual rescue figures are published, it’s always a sobering reminder of what our RNLI volunteer lifeboat crews do year in year out – they literally drop whatever they are doing and race to save lives at sea when they get the call.

"The least they can expect is the best kit possible to protect them against the extreme conditions they face. Kit which gives them a firm footing on unsteady surfaces and shields them from injury, allowing them to carry out their lifesaving work.

"The Mayday national fundraising event is our own call for help, as we rely on the generosity of the public to fund the vital kit that helps keep the crews safe when they risk their lives for others."

For more details or to register for the Hartlepool event call Seaton Carew Golf Club on 01429 891062 or email: [email protected].

The RNLI’s Mayday national fundraiser began on Wednesday, May 1, and will run for the whole month, at hundreds of locations across the UK and Ireland.

This year, the RNLI hopes to raise a total of £700,000 through Mayday, which will be used to fund essential kit.