Round Table gifts a thermal night vision scope to local Lifeboat Station

The equipment will help the crew when they are searching for missing people.

Hunstanton's lifeboat crew is made up of local men and women, all volunteers, who operate both the inshore lifeboat Spirit of West Norfolk and search and rescue hovercraft Hunstanton Flyer, at what is one of Norfolk's busiest lifeboat stations.

Some of them, Ryan Darby, Ed Napolitano, Josh Haycock and Elliott Nicol are also members of Hunstanton and District Round Table, and with their other Round Table colleagues they run the annual fireworks display on the clifftop and the Christmas Day swim raising thousands of pounds for good causes in and around the town. Last year the fourteen strong group raised a massive £25,000.

Helmsman Ryan Darby, who is also Hunstanton and District Round Table's Chairman, presented the £2,600 thermal night vision scope to lifeboat operations manager Mike Gould at the station in Old Hunstanton. He said: "We're in the crew so we know how vital the scope is; it detects heat, which means we can see a lot further at night." 

Fellow helm Ed added: "It's a game-changer in dark conditions, when you're trying to find someone and time is of the essence."

A similar scope was donated by a generous donor last year, so in future when there's a shout that needs the lifeboat and hovercraft to launch, each one can carry this equipment.

Lifeboat operations manager Mike Gould said: "We're hugely grateful because it means we can have one on each asset. We know how important these things can be in both night and daytime conditions."