Meet the 23-year-old walking the entire British and Irish coastlines for charity

An inspirational 23-year-old paid a visit to Larne recently as a part of an epic fundraising trek around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland.
By The Newsroom
Published 10th Aug 2016, 16:11 BST
Updated 10th Aug 2016, 17:15 BST
Inspirational fundraiser Alex Ellis-Roswell was in Larne recently as part of his epic mission to walk round the entire coasts of Great Britain and the island of Ireland. He is pictured with Larne RNLI volunteers outside Larne Lifeboat Station. INLT 32-664-CONInspirational fundraiser Alex Ellis-Roswell was in Larne recently as part of his epic mission to walk round the entire coasts of Great Britain and the island of Ireland. He is pictured with Larne RNLI volunteers outside Larne Lifeboat Station. INLT 32-664-CON
Inspirational fundraiser Alex Ellis-Roswell was in Larne recently as part of his epic mission to walk round the entire coasts of Great Britain and the island of Ireland. He is pictured with Larne RNLI volunteers outside Larne Lifeboat Station. INLT 32-664-CON

Alex Ellis-Roswell is determined to finish the journey he started back in August 2014, when the made the life-changing decision to leave his hometown in Margate, Kent, England on his incredible three-year odyssey.

His aim is to visit every lifeboat station in the UK and Ireland, donating any money he collects along the way.

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So far Alex has completed around half of his 9500-mile mission, raising over £23,000 for the RNLI. in the process.

And during his two-day stop over in Larne, Alex paid tribute to the lifesaving work of the local lifeboat crew, which he described as “one of the nicest he has ever met”.

“During my journey across the Antrim coast from Portrush to Larne, I collected around £345 in donations, which I then passed on to the lifeboat crew in Larne.

“The RNLI volunteers in Larne and the wider community were very supportive of my cause and I want to say a big thank you to the people of the town.”

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The spark that ignited Alex’s journey was the death of his father back in 2014.

He told the Times: “After I lost dad my head was all over the place and I just hit the road. It was something I felt I needed to do.

“The RNLI has always been a charity I have been supportive of. There’s no doubt in my mind the lifeboat volunteers are heroes.

“I must have met over 1,000 volunteers by now. Their dedication and professionalism and sacrifice and bravery is an inspiration to see.

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“Unfortunately we seem to live in a world of so much bad news now. But here are thousands of men and women, from all different backgrounds, coming together for the good of others.”

Alex is taking a clockwise route around both Great Britain and the island of Ireland.

After setting off from Kent, he travelled along England’s south coast, Wales, the Isle of Man and south west Scotland, before starting the Irish leg of his journey in Belfast in July 2015.

After departing Larne last week, he set off on the final leg of his Irish journey and came full circle by arriving back in Belfast.

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From there, it is a short back across the Irish Sea to Stranraer, where he will continue his journey up the west coast of Scotland and along the north coast, before making his way down the east coast of Scotland and England. He hopes to be finished back where he started in Kent sometime in 2018.

If you would like to donate to RNLI Lifeboats you can do so online here: www.bt.com/DonateToLifeboats

And you can follow and support Alex on his Facebook profile here: www.facebook.com/alexellisroswell

Related topics:LarneKentEnglandStranraer