A BEAUTY Queen who fundraises for lifesavers is urging people to support the saviours of seafarers on Saturday.

Miss Dorset Lifeboat Danni De Bear wants residents to turn out for Portland Coast-guard on the Save Our Lifesavers Walk of Support.

Cerne Abbas teenager Danni, 18, has raised £550 for the RNLI and is backing our campaign to bring a Coastguard Supercentre to the area to replace the axed Portland Coastguard Station.

She said: “If they took the coastguard operations centre away from this area it would be ridiculous. It’s part of our community – we need the coastguard.”

Aura bar worker Danni said she visited the lifeboat station to present her cheque to them.

She raised the money by completing a sponsored kayaking challenge.

She said: “I saw the Weymouth Lifeboat at work last year. I thought it was amazing.

“I met some of the guys who are all volunteers who give their time to saving people.

“We need to support the people who they work with.”

Danni, who used to work at the Sun Inn in Lower Burton, said our petition that calls for a Coastguard supercentre to be built in Weymouth or Portland was popular at the pub.

She said: “We had the petition at the bar and we managed to fill up four pages. People really need to come along to the Walk of Support and show their support.

“I would say to people ‘think of your children’ – if something happened to one of your friends, your family or your children you would do anything you can to keep the Coastguard.”

Danni will next be applying for another beauty pageant to be the Face of Europe and will compete in Miss Galaxy in March 2012.

* Have you been saved by Portland Coastguard or do you know anyone who has? If so, we’d like to hear from you. Call newsdesk on 01305 830999 or email newsdesk@dorsetecho.co.uk.

* The petition is available to download from the news section of the Echo website – or fill out the coupon and send it to the office at the Granby Industrial Estate in Weymouth or the Dorchester office in Antelope Walk. Readers can request a paper copy of the petition by calling 01035 830999.

Saturday walk of support

Together with Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, the Echo is holding a Walk of Support for Portland Coastguard on Saturday, September 3, from Weymouth Pavilion at 11am and would like as many people as possible to join us.

We will be meeting at the Pavilion at 10.50am, then walking past Portland Coastguard Station, through the town centre and on to Greenhill Gardens for 12.15pm.

Confirmed speakers at the gardens are South Dorset MP Richard Drax, council leader Mike Goodman and Portland Town Councillor Sandy West.

The walk will take us back to Weymouth Pavilion for 1pm.

* For more information see our Facebook page by searching for Portland Coastguard – Save Our Lifesavers or follow links from the Dorset Echo Facebook page.