At 5am on Saturday 25 November 2023 a team of crew members from Gravesend Lifeboat Station will set off on their bikes in the dark, to do part of a relay ride between nine Kent lifeboat stations to raise money for the RNLI.

Chris Maher has volunteered with Gravesend RNLI station for 16 years and is one of the five volunteer lifeboat crew members who will start off the relay from Gravesend.

Chris explains: 'The reindeer relay will start off from Royal Terrace Pier, where the lifeboat station is located in Gravesend, and make its way first to Sheerness, a journey of over 29 miles. Each team will complete a section between Kent's nine RNLI lifeboat stations, finishing at Dungeness. The whole relay totals over 130 miles.

'The teams will be made up of RNLI crew and supporters who are cycling, running, or walking to raise funds for the charity, which provides a 24-hour search and rescue service around the UK and Ireland. Last year over £2,000 was raised by the reindeer relay for the RNLI so we are hoping to raise as much or more this year.'

Alan Carr has been a volunteer lifeboat crew member at Gravesend station for 14 years and is also one of the team members set to cycle the first leg of the relay. He said: The funds raised by events like this are vital to help equip our crews with the kit, training, and materials they need to go out and saves lives at sea and on the River Thames.'

Some of the team of lifeboat crew members even plan to cycle on from Sheerness and complete the next leg of the relay to Whitstable, a journey of another 27 miles.