Over the last few years I've completed a number of long-distance charity cycle rides in and around various parts of the UK, including end-to-end, coast-to-coast, and another joining up all the capital cities.  Having also had a few years experiencing the thrills of white water paddling, I figured a good way to tie all these other challenges together - perhaps to close the loop on many of the long-distance UK trips - would be to kayak around as well. And having cycled from end to end, and from coast to coast, I decided that my circumnavigation would need to include everywhere which is accessible by cycle, hence going around the west side of the Isle of Skye (because of the Skye Bridge).  The idea first spawned a few years ago, but I always just assumed it would be one of those I never got around to doing; however my sister Emma was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease in 2008 and I wanted to do something to support NACC, and I followed the progress of Sarah Outen last year as she became the first female, youngest person and fastest person to row solo across the Indian Ocean.  All these ideas and inspirations merged together and I decided to get on with it.
  

The Van   

If you see the support van, which hopefully will be somewhere around the coast, you'll know it's the one!  It'll have the trip logo on the side, along with details of the charities and all the companies who are kindly supporting the trip.  This van will be doing three important jobs: 

1) helping to do more fundraising and awareness-raising than I could manage on my own

2) carrying some spare equipment, food and general supplies

3) giving various friends and family some pretty cheap holidays by the sea...  

Seriously though, this van doesn't drive itself, and I really couldn't do this without the help of some very loyal and supportive friends and family (two very hard weeks in NW Scotland without the van proved to me just how hard it would be doing the whole thing without support).

Why the Fundraising?

With a trip like this, you could just buy a boat, dig out an old tent, pack up a few supplies and set off on your own.  The trouble with this approach is that you'll just be doing it for your own sake.  Then when things get difficult - and let's face it, with 5 months of paddling 10 hours a day, there will be times when it's difficult - having a deeper meaning to keep the motivation going is crucial.  

You can't simply bolt-on the fundraising aspect.  If the fundraising is not something you're particularly bothered about, in difficult times it will probably feel more like a nuisance than something to spur you on, and that's not a good place to go looking for motivation.  The fundraising aspect should either be a central reason for the whole thing, or else completely discarded.  And even if it is a central thing - or more to the point especially if it's a central thing - it's not something that happens by itself.  Without committed action, vague plans and aspirations usually end up staying exactly that - vague and aspirational - so the winter of 2009-2010 has been pretty hectic so far.  

So, instead of buying a kayak, I bought a fundraising van. And instead of asking the Guinness Book of Records what the fastest circumnavigation is, I contacted the charities to get them on board, as it were, with the plans.  Thankfully I received very generous sponsorships from various companies and equipment suppliers (full details on www.gonepaddling.co.uk) and I am extremely grateful for their support to enable this challenge to go ahead.

You see, what I'm trying to do is not just to kayak around the whole country as fast as possible: I want to raise awareness for these two charities, WaterAid and the NACC, and to help them out with a bit of fundraising.  If other people can see what's going on, and think "Hey, I could do something like that too!", then that would be fantastic too.  So this takes a bit more organising. This is why I went down to part-time at work and spent a lot of time during the winter and spring sorting out media stuff, kitting out the support van, working out budgets, spreading a bit of news about what I'm doing, and promoting the idea that with each others' help, we really can make a positive difference to thousands of lives.

The Charities

The two charities have been chosen for particular reasons.  

In 2008 my sister Emma was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.  Crohn's Disease, like Colitis, is basically a disease of the gut and causes a few not-so-pleasant symptoms like urgent diarrhoea, deep internal ulcers, bleeding, stomach cramps, tiredness and fatigue.  Uncontrolled weight-loss is also a dangerous risk.  Roughly 1 in every 400 people in the UK have either Colitis or Crohn's, and although death from either is uncommon, it is still possible.  The causes of Colitis and Crohn's Disease are unknown; ongoing treatment is available, but a cure has not yet been found.  

The second charity I'm supporting is WaterAid.  WaterAid and its partners use practical solutions to provide safe water, effective sanitation and hygiene education to the world's poorest people.  With projects in 26 countries throughout Africa, Asia and the Pacific, they work at the local community level using local skills and appropriate, sustainable technologies.  Helping to meet such a basic human need as clean and safe water, which is taken for granted so easily in the western world, is something I am very keen to support.  

The main website http://www.gonepaddling.co.uk has web links and a few more details for both charities, including information on how your donations will actually help, where they will go and what they will do.  


Using JustGiving is easy.  It's simple, fast, and totally secure.  Your details are safe – they’ll never sell them on or send you unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charities and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charities.

So please do dig deep and support if you can. 

Cheers, 

James