A SPECIAL quiz night is being held in tribute to one of Walton and Frinton Lifeboat’s most enthusiastic fundraisers.

When well-known Walton quiz master John Rayner died suddenly in December his family were “astonished” to find that he had already prepared his next quiz for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, even though it was still months away.

Walton and Frinton RNLI’s Lifeboat Fundraising Guild will now host the quiz night as a tribute to Mr Rayner.

His family said: “John was always dedicated to raising money for the RNLI and when we checked his office we found that he had already prepared the quiz for the spring.

“We immediately decided that it should go ahead as a fitting tribute to his years of hard work for the cause he loved to support.

“Over many years John had hosted countless quizzes, asking in excess of 20,000 questions and raising a fantastic £47,500 for the RNLI so we would like to add to that one last time for him.

“Our ambition is to take his final total up to £50,000 with this event.”

Mr Rayner, who was born and raised in Walton, died in December, aged 70, after suffering a heart attack.

He left behind his wife of 41 years, Annette, who is also treasurer of the district RNLI, and their two sons.

Richard Wyatt, chairman of Walton and Frinton RNLI Fundraising Guild, said: “John has been a key figure in fundraising for the RNLI at our station for as long as I can remember, he will be greatly missed by all of us.”

The event is being held at Frinton Golf Club on Saturday, April 27.

Tickets cost £6 per person and should be purchased in advance from the fundraising team on 07759 114260.