Appeal for funds for new Rye lifeboat

The rescue service, run by volunteers, wants to get a new Atlantic 85 lifeboat, which costs £214,000 but needs to raise £64,000 towards the cost.

Richard Tollett, lifeboat operations manager at Rye Harbour, said: “The Atlantic 85 is a very good lifeboat and ideal for the types of rescue we carry out here.

“Our station is right in the middle of a bay and we launch straight into the River Rother, which has only around three and a half hours of high water each day, but we can still launch in less than a foot of water in the Atlantic 85. We couldn’t do that in any other RNLI lifeboat class.”

In 2010 the Rye Harbour crew took delivery of its Atlantic 85, ‘Hello Herbie’, thanks to a generous bequest made by Peggy Joan Staveley. In the following five years she was launched 111 times, rescued 108 people and spent more than 2,800 hours at sea on rescue and training exercises.

On May 8, 2015, following reports of a person calling for help in the river Rother, ‘Hello Herbie’ collided with an unlit, partially submerged object in the water, which caused irrepairable damage to the lifeboat and injured three of the four crew members onboard.

Steve Griffin, Rye Harbour RNLI press officer, said: “A new Atlantic 85 lifeboat costs £214,000 and we urgently need your support to raise £64,000 towards the cost for the volunteers at Rye Harbour lifeboat station.

“Your generosity will enable our volunteers to protect families around the south-east coast for many years to come. The Rye Harbour lifeboat crew is here to help make the sea a safer place for everyone to enjoy, and with your support they always will be.”

For more than 180 years lifeboat volunteers at Rye Harbour have been helping to keep the waters safe off the south-east coast. If anyone would like to make a donation visit www.justgiving.com and search for Rye Harbour Lifeboat Appeal, or text RHLB85 £10 to 70070.

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