Two RNLI lifeguard supervisors from West Wales will be playing their part in a round-Britain charity relay challenge that is hitting the shores of West Wales on May 17.
RNLI lifeguard supervisors Elin Jones, from Ceredigion, and Chris Rigby, from Pembrokeshire, will be doing their bit to make the QinetiQ Relay Challenge a great success when it comes to Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire on Monday 17 May.
The relay will see participants depart from the island of St Kilda, in the Outer Hebrides, on 23 April, with teams of QinetiQ employees from all over the UK travelling from one site to the next, by a combination of cycling, kayaking, running, sailing and walking to finish in Shoeburyness, Essex, on 4 June.
Elin Jones will be running 10 kilometres from Aberporth to Gwbert alongside QinetiQ employees and other participants, when a baton and other material from the technology and defence services company is handed over at 8am on Monday 17 May. Pembrokeshire RNLI Lifeguard Supervisor Chris Rigby is also doing the run and will assist in providing safety cover for kayakers who will be undertaking part of the relay challenge from Cardigan to Poppit.
Elin Jones said: ‘This is a marvellous initiative which will benefit a number of charities including the RNLI. Our role is to save lives at sea and ensure people are safe in the sea, so what better way could there be to help people enjoy the sea and coastline while raising money for charity?
‘Last year, RNLI lifeguards responded to 1,198 incidents and aided 1,410 people along the coastline that the runners, walker and kayakers will be negotiating on May 17. So they can see very directly where the money they are helping to raise will be put to good use by RNLI lifeguards.’
All the teams involved will carry a baton and a piece of QinetiQ technology called an Ocellus, which allows people to track and map the relay’s progress on a webpage. Staff from the QinetiQ site in Aberporth are being handed the baton from their colleagues from Malvern on Monday 17 May, at 8am.
Teams will then run, walk kayak, sail and cycle to the next site in Pendine, Carmarthenshire. QinetiQ’s nominated charities this year are RNLI, Royal Legion, SSAFA, and Cancer Research.
The employees hope to raise £10,000 from their efforts, including some funding from QinetiQ. It is expected that each charity will benefit to the tune of £2,000 or more.
