Donations surge for fundraiser to buy RNLI new lifeboat in Nigel Farage’s name

The fundraiser sits at around £400,000 raised.

In recent days, there has been a surge in far-right protests in the south of England. Areas in Hampshire and Dover have seen protestors block roads and try to disrupt asylum seekers being disembarked after being rescued in the Channel.

Along with a surge in anti-migrant sentiment, there has also been despicable rise once again in hatred and abuse towards the RNLI and its staff.

Things have got so bad that one RNLI station had to suspend operations earlier this month due to anti-migrant protestors.

But, here’s a reminder that every cloud has a silver lining. In the face of toxicity, many have rallied around the RNLI and have been keen to show their support for its work and volunteers.

This has led to a long-running fundraiser seeing a surge in donations.

Back in July 2021, Simon Harris, who runs the ‘Men Behaving Dadly‘ page on Facebook, set up the ‘Flying Farage’ fundraiser.

Initially set up with the aim of raising enough money for the RNLI to buy a new hovercraft which would unofficially be in Farage’s name, it has since become a huge fundraiser to help the RNLI’s lifesaving work.

In November last year, the fundraiser hit its £300,000 target. Now, after the events of recent days, the page has seen hundreds of donations taking it to the verge of hitting £400,000 at the time of writing.

In the fundraiser description, Harris jokes that if enough money is raised, the RNLI could purchase a second vessel called ‘Galloping Grimes’, the ‘Hovering Hopkins’ or the ‘Rushing Ratcliffe.’

An update in January this year states: “All donations to ‘The Flying Farage’ are being ringfenced for running costs at RNLI stations around the South-East corner of England – this means that there’s always a very good chance that donations will go towards helping the very people that Farage and many other ruddy-faced gammons love screaming at in The Channel.”