Couple's challenge to visit every lifeboat station

Allan and Helen Thornhill visited their first lifeboat station in Teddington

A couple from Surrey have started a challenge to visit all 238 RNLI lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland.

Allan and Helen Thornhill, from Smallfield, are raising funds for the lifesaving charity which celebrated its 200th anniversary earlier this year.

The couple started their challenge visiting Teddington lifeboat station, south-west London, on 1 June and expect to take up to two years to complete it.

Mr Thornhill said they were "excited about the challenge" and it is "proving to be a fantastic experience".

The pair say they are are doing the challenge on and off over a period of two years to fit around work commitments.

They clocked up 25 lifeboat station visits in June, reaching Kent, East and West Sussex, Essex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

In July they plan to add Suffolk and Norfolk to their list.

Mr Thornhill said: "We have both been life-long supporters of the RNLI.

"I always had the idea of visiting all the lifeboat stations when I retire, but we decided to bring our plans forward by a few years.

The couple hope to reach all 238 RNLI lifeboat stations by mid 2026

The couple set an initial fundraising target of £2,000 but said they hope to get more.

Mr Thornhill said: "We're looking forward to visiting places that we've not seen before.

"We're particularly excited about the Western and Northern Isles of Scotland."

But travel is made by complicated by the fact that his wife Helen is afraid of flying.

Ms Thornhill said: "We're doing it all as a road trip which makes planning more complicated.

"The most rewarding part is meeting the crews and finding out what they go through as well as raising lots of money for charity."

The couple expect to finish the challenge in the spring or summer of 2026, possibly on the Isle of Man.

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