Fundraiser Alex Ellis-Roswell, 21 is walking around the coast of Great Britain to raise money for the charity that saves lives at sea. His challenge began on 3 August at Margate and on 1 November, departed Exmouth RNLI walking westwards.
Following the death of his father last Christmas, Alex sold his three year-old advertising business in Canterbury and set off on both a spiritual and fundraising journey of a lifetime. His father, Raymond had dedicated much of his life to charities which inspired Alex to take up this challenge to raise awareness of the work of the Institution’s volunteers.
Alex has met a number of the charity’s volunteers at the 25 RNLI lifeboat stations so far. He says;
‘RNLI lifeboat crew volunteers save an average of 23 lives at sea every single day. In my opinion, they’re heroes. They put themselves right in the thick of what is Britain’s most unforgiving environment – our sea. They receive no government funding for their work and the majority of lifeboat crew are volunteers.’
Expecting the ‘long walk round’ to take two years to complete, Alex is well-prepared for wild camping and is welcoming offers of accommodation along the 6,500 mile route. Alex reached Exmouth lifeboat station on Saturday 25 October where shop volunteers recognised him from a memo. Coxswain Steve Hockings-Thompson treated the 21 year old to a tour of the Shannon class lifeboat R and J Welburn before Alex took the train to Exeter to stay with friends for five nights. By Thursday, Alex returned to the coast to enjoy the kind hospitality of strangers who had offered him their sofa for two nights. He said;
‘I was impressed by the red cliffs of the Jurassic Coast. A lovely couple Craig and Dawn put me up for two nights in Exmouth and showed me a good time in the town. Although I did make the fatal mistake of trying scrumpy!’
On the afternoon of Saturday 1 November, the Exmouth RNLI Coxswain met up with Alex once again to help him across the Exe estuary on a Rigid Inflatable Boat, to pick up the coastal path at Dawlish Warren. Alex is aiming to reach St lves by Christmas.
For more details on Alex’s adventures, please follow him on Twitter (@EllisRoswell) and see his sponsorship page: mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/longwalkround
