Tag: robin hood’s bay

An idea in a pub which turned into £18,000 fundraiser for St Catherine’s Hospice

Whitby Anchor by Emma Ryan

Nineteen mates on 40 year-old motorcycles with a top speed of 35mph have raised more than £18,000 for St Catherine’s Hospice after riding the Coast to Coast route and back.

The idea started with Martin Marot and a mate having a pint in the local pub talking about their classic Honda Cub motorcycles and over the next couple of months turned into a 300 mile round trip across a whole weekend.

The riders left Robin Hood’s Bay at 8am on Saturday and rolled back in at 5.30pm on Monday.

A mix of pre-1985 Honda C50s, 70s and 90s navigated the backroads from Robin Hood’s Bay to the Lakes, via an overnight stop in Windermere.

Martin said: “Like all good things, me and my mate were sat in the pub one night talking about our Honda C90s and said we should do something before summer ends. Then we thought of the Coast to Coast and a few more mates said they will do it, then a few more and then we said we should do it for charity and ended up with 19 of us.”

“We chose St Catherine’s as it is a popular charity around here and we have a lot of friends and family who have been in over the years.”

En route to £18,000 for St Catherine’s Hospice. Picture: Iain Shaw

Due to the slow speed of the machines, they had to take the back roads and passed through villages and hamlets who ended up following and supporting their journey on social media – and quite literally.

A JustGiving page collected £18,000, with more money donated to collection buckets still being counted.

“It is a fantastic amount”, said Martin, “and we are over the moon with it. We thought we would set a silly figure at £10,000 and would be happy at that, but we have nearly doubled it.

“The support along the way was amazing and humbling really. People turned up to see us in places like Hawes and Kirkby Stephen and were asking us where we were going next.”

Elvis on a Honda Cub. Picture: Iain Shaw

The trip wasn’t without its mishaps. The engine on Martin’s bike seized and needed to be replaced in the car park at The Tan Hill Inn and keeping 19 motorcycles together was tricky at times.

Martin added: “Literally every day there was a mishap or a wrong turn. On bigger bikes or cars it is easier to keep up with each other but with these being so old we were spread out over three miles.

“It is all part of the fun and we are already planning next year – it was fun, for a good cause so why not?”

Opera singing busker raises £10,000 for local RNLI funds

Whitby Anchor by Emma Ryan

A trained opera singer has been hitting the high notes and over the last ten years has made more than £10,000 for the RNLI – armed with his voice and a collection bucket.

Since James Hutton and his wife Jane got their holiday cottage in Robin Hood’s Bay in the 1990s, they immersed themselves in local life and made friends in the village.

Splitting their time between Hawes and the Bay, James, who had stopped singing professionally, but wanted to stay tuned, busked for local charities. When he and Jane decided to re-locate permanently to Robin Hood’s Bay ten years ago, their good friends in the village, Jim and Carol Foster, who are involved with the Robin Hood’s Bay branch of the RNLI, persuaded him to sing for RNLI funds.

Over the years he has delighted locals and visitors alike with his singing, and, with the support of Colin Harrison from Staithes and Runswick RNLI, he has also busked in Staithes.

After having raised £2,000 in Staithes and £8,000 in Robin Hood’s Bay, James has been presented with the Certificate of Thanks signed by Peter Sparkes, Chief Executive of the Lifeboat Charity.

Neil Williamson of Whitby RNLI made the presentation at the Hotel Victoria on Monday and arrangements have also been made for James and Jane to have a personal guided tour of Whitby Lifeboat Station and the current Lifeboat, the Lois-Ivan.

Whitby Anchor