Raised: 46%
Target: £50,000.00
Raised so far: £22,751.00
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My story

 

Adam Huntington Whiteley and Hugo Llewelyn have been life long friends and have shared since childhood many of the same interests in life. Upto January 2008 however this sphere of interests had not included kayaking of any kind, not least trying to cross the world's busiest shipping lane with only 8 months of training and a beginner's grasp of french...

However, owing to personal circumstances, we wanted to do something difficult, dangerous and different to raise as much money and publicity as possible for leukaemia research at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital, which provides the most extraordinary life line to many of Great Britain's young children with this hideous disease. Adam's father died from the disease in late 2005, and Hugo is a trustee of GOSHCC, the charity that supports the hospital, hence the cause we are supporting.

You may well have heard of our charity, but if not, it is a world-class children’s hospital, with the broadest range of paediatric specialists under one roof anywhere in the .  They welcome around 150,000 patient visits each year, treating those with the most complex, life-threatening or life-limiting conditions, of which Leukaemia is one.  They are also totally committed to finding treatments and cures for some of the rarest and most difficult illnesses, and all the money we raise will be put towards research in the area of leukaemia. See www.gosh.org for more information here.

Consequently, full of severe mis-givings about what we were about to do, on Friday 29th August, after a week of delays caused by bad weather, we set out from Dover at 5 am in the morning to attempt to cross the English Channel in sea-kayaks. The weather was settled, and Dover looked at its best in the dark, and heading towards France.

By mid-day, after 6 hours and 45 minutes of gruelling slog, avoiding the international shipping lanes, overcoming sea sickness, and the notorious currents between England and France, not to mention 3 Great White Shark moments (these turned out to be sea-weed!) we finally set foot on French soil as our picture shows, which was a huge relief for two very exhausted individuals.

Having done a fair number of triathlons, marathons, 1/2 iron men, climbing Kilimanjaro and the like, I can safely say it was the most mentally difficult challenge I have faced, and as physically demanding as any. The relief of making it was enormous.

We are so far up to half way in our target £50,000 and any continuing support would be much appreciated. The other half we hope to secure at our party Just Desserts, in London's Hammersmith town hall on Saturday 27th September - all the details of that are at www.justgiving.com/justdesserts

We are extremely grateful to you for your support in this venture and hope to see you at the party too...

Adam and Hugo

I'm behind you all the way.....way behind! Donation by Lucie P 19/07/08  

£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid

Nice one Chaps. Ads - assume pec's are looking good these days? Donation by Hutch 19/07/08  

£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid

like your style ads, make sure you pull your weight pal good luck! Donation by Del & Ems 18/07/08  

£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid

Good luck, I am sure no challenge can beat Action Man Hugo! Donation by Adrian Ion 16/07/08  

£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid

Good luck boys! Donation by Fi Erskine-Naylor (nee Dixon) 16/07/08  

£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid

Best of luck! Donation by James Spencer-Jones 15/07/08  

£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid

Best of luck! Donation by Jon Gibbon 14/07/08  

£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid

Ship dodging in ice cold muddy waters...another great traditional British seafaring expedition!! Good luck. Donation by Danny Strickland 11/07/08  

£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid

Take the fishing rod, it should help pass the time. Very commendable, masses of luck. Donation by Harry C 11/07/08  

£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid

Glad to see the British love of mad cap ideas is alive and well. Best of luck. Donation by Andy Richards 11/07/08  

£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid

Utter madness - enjoy and best of luck Donation by Graham Chase 04/07/08  

£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid

Very best of luck lads. Outstanding effort Donation by Tim G 02/07/08  

£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid

Hope your kayaking is better than your punting Donation by Jonty and Cecilia 01/07/08  

£200.00

Bonne courage et je vous mets dans les mains du bon dieu pour la vitesse! Donation by Nat Moskwa 01/07/08  

£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid

Have a nice splash! Seriously impressive stuff. Good luck! Donation by Meely Nicholson 01/07/08  

£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid

Good Luck! Donation by Eric Peters 30/06/08  

£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid

May be you could hook a line to a ferry and get a tow? Donation by Ian Mayhew 30/06/08  

£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid

Good stuff! Enjoy..........?? Donation by Mike Probert 30/06/08  

£200.00

row, row, row your boats, gently down the stream...xx (albeit quite a large stream in this case) Donation by Clare B 29/06/08  

£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid

Never forget a good hymn in any quiet moment, you valiant welshmen! Donation by Rez 27/06/08  

£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid

Good stuff, Hugo Donation by Iqbal Jumabhoy 26/06/08  

£100.00

good luck! Donation by David Doubble 25/06/08  

£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid

Good luck!! Mad but brave! Donation by Nicola Turner Inman 24/06/08  

£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid

Remember glory is eternal while pain is only temporary - unless you really overdo it! Donation by Rob Toms 23/06/08  

£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid

Best of luck - it will be a fantastic achievement if you can pull it off. Donation by Rupert Sheldon 23/06/08  

£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid

We'll expect a swim out of you next year, Hugo! Donation by Woolsey McKernon 23/06/08  

£100.00

Good luck fellas Donation by Will Andrews 20/06/08  

£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid

David Walliams didn't need a boat Donation by JP 19/06/08  

£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid

Good luck guys - very brave indeed. Donation by NEP Partners - Torsten and Ed 19/06/08  

£200.00

Best of luck - you will do it! Donation by Tim Bevan-Thomas 16/06/08  

£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid
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* Total raised online: £14,151.00
  Offline donations: £8,600.00
  Gift Aid plus supplement: £2,411.82

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