Saturday, 7 April 2007

Collecting in the Street



A busy 7 days gone by - things are picking up speed and the money is really starting to come in for the charity now!

On the 28th of March we did the first of 3 Charity collections around the county - this time at Kidderminster. This was the first time that i've done this and i'd be lying if i said that i wasn't nervous - was really not sure how this would go down. So on a rather windy day at 10am we set up the boat on its stand and started rattling (well not rattling - against council rules) the tins. Lots of interest and a few puzzled children later (general view - im mad!) and we came away having raised nearly £250 in 5 hrs.


A few days later and we're coming up to the bank holiday, this time its a bit of a road trip down to Devon to see Chris Reed of Chillcheaters down in Brauton. Having convinced Rhianon (girlfriend) to drive we set off to pick up kit and see what Reed could do for the trip. A fantastic day out and every paddlers paradise (so much kit) gave a great insight into what Chillcheaters can do and how they do it - great to see how they can tailor make equipment. A good meal out that evening in Croyden and a nice relax on the beach and we're back to Worcester with a car full of great kit.


That brings us to today, bank holiday Saturday, and the 2nd of the Street Collections in Worcester. A bright lovely day and a few strange looks as i wheeled the Explorer through the town centre saw us set up outside the Guildhall. Working in shifts right through the day we got a great response and several hours later the final count comes to £550!!! Well done Worcester. Winner for the day was Rhianon with her collection bucket (aka flower pot) and a total of £183 in.

Many thanks to all who helped during the collection days especially to Andy from the Phoneworks who pressganged his entire family into collecting in Worcester

Sunday, 1 April 2007

Only a Month to go!!!

Hello all,


Its been a bit of a while since i was last on here but things have been crazily busy! So far everything is moving along fantastically and its looking good for starting on May 5th.


So to fill you in whats been happening so far:


Outdoors Show March 18-19th


Many thanks to Nigel and all the lads from Sea Kayaking UK for hosting me at this years NEC outdoors show and providing me with the boat that i'll be using for the expedition (seen pictured behind us). The show was a great success for me thanks to Nigels help and introduction i also brought onboard Reed Chillcheater as my equipment sponsor (thanks to Chris), Lendal to supply my paddles and Kari-Tek have given me one of their fantastic trolleys to help me get to and from the water.
Despite there being fewer retailers at the show it was a great event and attracted alot of good feedback and promises of help on the way round.
Many thanks to all.
Aside from this im now back down on the water almost everyday (despite a Ford Ka driver trying to push my Landrover off the road a few weeks ago - thankfully Discoverys are built thougher than Fords and nobody was seriously hurt).
I finish work in 3 days time and then its full steam ahead on final planning. I am nearly fully stocked with my equipment and all im missing is food now - time to get to Mr Tesco and Sainsburys and buy as many super noodles as i can i think.
Hope alls well and speak to you soon