Portree community takes on RNLI Mayday Mile fundraising

Two year-old Georgie, who lives in Portree, will be taking on the mile a day challenge throughout the month of May to raise money for the lifesaving charity.

Georgie will be donning her yellow wellies and overalls to complete the daily mile by walking or by using her balance bike. She will also be joined by older brother Angus, who is 14, during the challenge.

Dad, Brian, is a volunteer at Portree RNLI and the family are already heavily involved in fundraising activities at the station.

The Portree lifeboat is affectionately known as ‘Daddy’s Boat’ in their household!

Speaking about the challenge, Mum, Annalise, said: "Both Georgie and Angus are already involved in fundraising for the RNLI, which is such a big part of our family life. It seems apt that they join in with the national Mayday Mile fundraising campaign to help support the work of the charity. We all know that the RNLI relies on donations to operate, which makes fundraising for it even more important."

Also taking on the Mayday Mile fundraising challenge is Melanie and William, who are both instructors at A.C.E Target Sports, just outside of Portree.

They will be undertaking their mile a day by any means possible and will be posting regularly on social media with updates on their progress.

Speaking about the challenge, Melanie said: "The RNLI are the beating heart of our community on Skye and Raasay. They need all the support they can get and raising money is the perfect way of saying thank you for the crew’s unwavering efforts in all weathers."

Also taking on the Mayday Mile fundraising challenge is Melanie and William, who are both instructors at A.C.E Target Sports, just outside of Portree.

They will be undertaking their mile a day by any means possible and will be posting regularly on social media with updates on their progress.
Speaking about the challenge, Melanie said: "The RNLI are the beating heart of our community on Skye and Raasay. They need all the support they can get and raising money is the perfect way of saying thank you for the crew’s unwavering efforts in all weathers."

Portree RNLI is currently home to the Trent class lifeboat Stanley Watson Barker (14-16). However, later this year, a brand new £2.78M Shannon class lifeboat – Peter and Mary (13-59) – will officially take over as the permanent Portree lifeboat.

The state-of-the-art vessel, which is powered by water jets rather than conventional propellors, arrived at Portree on Saturday 18 April to a large crowd of welcoming spectators. The new lifeboat is currently undergoing crew familiarisation trials. 

The RNLI is the charity that has been saving lives at sea for over two hundred years. There are over 5,700 volunteer RNLI lifeboat crew members at 238 lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland, with a further 4,000 volunteer shore crew members. Its volunteers are on call and ready to respond to calls for help 24 hrs a day, 365 days of the year.

Further details about the RNLI Mayday fundraising campaign can be found here: fundraise.rnli.org/event/mayday-mile/home