109 Mile Sponsored Paddle
We at Evesham Paddlesport organized a 109 Mile Paddle in order to raise money for the County Air Ambulance on the 26th - 28th May. You can find our diary of events, image gallery and ways of sponsoring below. Thanks.

Image Gallery
After reading our diary why not click here and take a look at the images from the 109 mile paddle event...

Diary of 109 Mile Paddle
Last year Evesham Paddlesport lost one of it’s founder member’s, Sam Stupple, in a road accident. At the time he was given every chance possible by the swift and professional response of the County Air Ambulance (CAA).

In order to remember Sam, we at Evesham Paddlesport organised a 109 mile sponsored canoe paddle in aid of the County Air Ambulance, to raise money for such a worthy cause,

It was decided to paddle on the river Severn from Pool Quay (a small village just outside of Welshpool in Wales) to Upton on Severn (south of Worcester in England!), a staggering 109 miles in total along which we pass several towns and gorgeous countryside.

After sorting the kit, it was time to organise ourselves into three paddling crews, these were the; Jolly Rodgers (for their sense of humour), Team Turtle (for there not so rapid performance) and Liquid Engineering (for their accuracy). During the paddle we swapped around paddlers slightly in order to make the crews balanced and try different aspects of paddling (steering, power strokes).

The paddlers who took part were Matt Stephens, Chris Dine, John Dickinson, Dave Owen, Dave, Louise and Josh Karlinski, Warren and Jake Mantle, Ian Birch, Stu Bailey, Iain Willis, Chris Slight, Jamie Alexander, Jill Stones and Graham Eastham.

Day 1, 6am we all packed ourselves and our kit into the minibus lent to us by the Golden Leaf Explorer Scouts in Evesham and embarked on our journey by road to Pool Quay, The weather was sunny and we were all in good spirit, not knowing what we’d let ourselves in for! After getting our gear and lunch into the canoes it was time to set off on the river, the time now being 8:30am.

The River Severn started off very narrow with many sharp corners which required skill in manoeuvring the large canoes, as several of us found out, in particular Warren, Dave O (read on!) and myself. The first few hours enabled us to grasp the techniques required to handle the canoes and improve our technique and speed, this was after the Jolly Rodgers and Jamie in particular had become covered in leaves and pollen. The paddle looked endless after the GPS had said we’d only covered 3 miles in one hour.

2 hours into the paddle and team Jolly Rodgers steered by Dave O found themselves heading for a large tree down some mild rapids, not nice. Whether Dave was being distracted by lack of food (he has a big appetite) or the awful jokes the situation wasn’t changing. All of a sudden they found themselves swimming, loosing much of their kit and more importantly Dave’s lunch supply. After the two other canoes and kayaks helped rescue them it was on with the paddle and spirits began to rise again with the weather continuing to be warm and pleasant. 

For the next 20 miles in was hard graft, paddling past swarms of cows, sheep and the occasional aggressive nesting swan, progress was now becoming quicker and we were averaging 4.5 MPH
With no time for lunch breaks, we finally reached Montford Bridge (23 miles) at around 1pm where the support crew were there to offer encouragement. Sprits rose as we only had 11 miles to finish the first days paddling.

The pace increased for the next few hours and after reaching Shelton Water Works at 6pm we only had around 30 minutes to the finish. This was just in time, as paddling speed was decreasing and we were all in need of food and rest. Once in Shrewsbury we packed up into the minibus where we then travelled to bascamp at the 3rd Bewdley (Wribbenhall) Scout Hut for some Chilli con Carne and Fish Pie prepared by Jill Stones and her friends from the local scout group. Once fed it was time for bed to prepare for the next day of paddling.

Day 2, 5:30am was wake up time and big breakfasts followed to prepare for the days paddling. Out of the door at 7:00am we travelled back up to where we finished the previous day and set off on the river at around 8:30am.

The first two miles through Shrewsbury was a fast warm up and a quick pace brought us to the notorious weir (2 miles downstream). Once there, we portaged the weir and carried the canoes around knowing that it was too dangerous to shoot, due to the recirculating stopper and ledge at the bottom.

The weather on day two was terrible, with persistent rain and strong headwinds. Stopping wasn’t an option and for the next 20 miles we paddled down past Atcham, Wroxeter Island, Cressage and Buildwas Bridge with sprits at an all time low. The Severn was meandering left to right which meant paddling towards the power station at Ironbridge was long and drawn out. After reaching the historic Iron Bridge (58.75 miles) we were half way through day two and were greeted by a dozen soaked tourists on the bridge. Fast approaching us were the Jackfield rapids, venue for national slalom and wild water racing events. John gave us a briefing on how to negotiate the rapid, just left of centre to avoid being pinned on the big rock on the right! Liquid Engineering were first followed by Team Turtle, who all looked around to notice that the Jolly Rodgers had found themselves testing the water temperature with a spectacular capzise! Most importantly they were still smiling after a long cold swim. It was time for another rescue and after emptying the canoe and salvaging the floating lunch it was time to paddle on.

Two and a half hours later we reached Bridgenorth (67.25 miles), where we met up with the support crew once again, the rain still pouring down on us. There was no time to stop as we had another 10 miles to paddle on day two, after leaving the town we paddled through open countryside where we saw buzzards, kingfishers, herons and other wildlife. The final section of day two was bleak and the only hazard was when the Jolly Rodgers encounter with a swan protecting its ducklings, which almost caught us off balance for another swim, six miles down the road was our get out point at Arley. We loaded up the canoes and headed back to base camp in Bewdley where we spent our second evening in the scout hut with a pasta lasagne.

Day 3, it was the final day and we were up at 5:30am ready for the final push to the finish. We had 31 miles to cover and this would be the shortest day of the expedition. Setting off from Arley at 8am the river had risen slightly and provided us with a little more speed. We hit Bewdley town in 40 minutes and continued to paddle at around 5mph. An hour and a half into day three we’d reached Stourport on Severn, where the support crew were waiting with huge amounts of enthusiasm! We were making good time and moral was high, during the next 7 miles down river Team Turtle began to slow down (earning them their name) and this meant re-grouping when we reached the first of several weirs to negotiate. The shooting of weirs showed the improvement in everyone’s skills as no capsizes and loud cheers marked our faultless progress. At Worcester the support crew took the largest collection of the trip and rallied us on to the finished. Predictably, the last few miles seemed as long as the first two days put together, but eventually we crossed the finish line having covered 109 miles, travelled from Wales to England and watched the river Severn change from a young stream to a slow mature river.

Big Thanks goes to our main Sponsors, Bear Creek Adventure (Bromsgrove), Oak Underwriting PLC (Oxford), Direct Print Services (Evesham), Printed Clothing Co. (Evesham), Alps Printing (Evesham), Adam and Eve’s (Evesham), Golden Leaf Explorer Group (Evesham).

And of course we couldn’t have done it all without our base camp support crew,Jill and 3rd Bewdley (Wribbenhall) Scouts (Accommodation and catering), Sue (Minibus driving), All the members at Evesham Paddlesport who conquered the 109 miles, all the local community in Evesham who have lent us support and of course Matt Stephens who had the original idea and organized the whole event.

We are all proud to Remember Sam Stupple in this way and make a contribution to such a worthwhile cause. The estimated sum raised is in the region of £3500- £4000. Remember, it’s not to late to donate, visit us at eveshampaddlesport.co.uk.

Whatever you do, or wherever you are at some point in your life you may need the services of the County Air Ambulance. One of these times was when Sam, a member of Evesham Paddlesport was involved in a RTI where he then needed to be flown to the Worcestershire Royal hospital. Despite their best efforts Sam later past away with his family.

Supported By:
Oak Underwriting, Direct Print Services, Bear Creek Adventure, The Printed Clothing Company, Golden Leaf Explorer Group, Adam and Eves, Alps Printers, and the local community!

How can you sponsor us?
If you'd like to sponsor us (whatever the amount) you can get in touch with us in the following ways:

• Website: Click here to sponsor us using our Online Form
  We will personally reply to acknowledge you're support
• Telephone: 07 969 858 268 (Matt)
  Please leave your name and number if there is no answer and we will get back in touch with you as soon as possible

Image Gallery
After reading our diary why not click here and take a look at the images from the 109 mile paddle event...

Click here to pledge you're amount online today!...

Click here for a list of businesses who have helped support us in order to raise money...

Payment Details
Payment can be made via cheque, payable to the "County Air Ambulance" or via cash. We accept no responsibility for loss of letters in the post. Collection of payment can be arranged. Please contact us for postal address or ring 07 969 858 268.

Thank you for your support.
Evesham Paddlesport and the County Air Ambulance

Want to find out more and/or get involved?
If you would like to find out more on the clubs activities, ask a question or to get involved yourself please contact us. You can do so in the following ways: