MINEHEAD lifeboat crewman Rob Hickley this week completed a charity walk of the South West Coast Path ‘at the double’.

Mr Hickley finished the 630 miles in 31 days, half the time it usually takes, and beat his £5,000 fund-raising target for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

With donations still coming in at the end of the walk he had raised £6,385, plus £1,481.75 in gift aid.

He was met by supporters at the end of his feat on the afternoon of Wednesday afternoon, April 23, by the hands statue in Minehead which marks the start and finish of the coast path after starting from Poole, Dorset, where the RNLI has its national headquarters.

Mr Hickley, known in Minehead for being an ‘aquatic action man’ because of his love of kitesurfing, trekked alone and unsupported, carrying everything he needed for the trip on his back, and topping up from supply drops in Post Offices on the route.

He trained for several months in preparation for the mammoth walk, which he described as ‘beautiful but tough’.

To complete the endeavour on time Mr Hickley had to walk an average of about 20 miles per day, camping overnight near Lynton on Tuesday before the final leg of the journey into Minehead.

By the end of his walk Mr Hickley had climbed nearly 115,000 feet, or four times the height of Mount Everest, crossed 302 bridges and 931 stiles, and passed 40 of the RNLI’s 238 lifeboat stations.

Donations have continued to pour in every day and anybody who still wants to support Mr Hickley’s fund-raising initiative should visit his JustGiving website page.

Minehead Lifeboat Station has another fund-raising event coming up on May 10 when it is holding a coffee morning and tour of the boathouse from 10 am to 1 pm.