Between the 7th and 16th of this February, while you were all tucked up nice and warm, I paddleboarded the 162 miles (255 km) of inland waterway crossing England from Liverpool in the West to Goole in the East on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the Aire and Calder Navigation, (aka the Desmond Family Canoe Trail), through Storm Erik and the Northern winter :-D. Brrrr...

It took me ten days in total, arriving at Goole on Saturday
16 Feb at 4.45pm.

The only parts of the route not paddled were Wigan Flight Portage and Blackburn Locks Portage with a combined distance of 3.1 miles (5km)

70% of the 8 million tonnes of plastic that ends up in our seas each year starts off inland. It therefore seemed a logical progression to use this trip to raise awareness of the problems that so much plastic in our waterways has caused and can cause in the future, as well as raising much needed funds to support the excellent outreach and cleanup work delivered by Surfers Against Sewage, (of which I've been a member for some time.)

To manage the whole route in the allotted time I had to paddle for around 6-8 hours per day, although I made stops en route to do some organised waterway clean ups with local groups, set up by the lovely people at the Canal and River Trust.

I've had two operations in the last two years and I've recently realised I'm 54, so my fitness isn't necessarily ideal for long distance midwinter paddles, so for me, this was an endurance event, but I'm pretty stubborn so I knew that with you in my corner I can do it.

As well as the Canal and River Trust and my colleagues at British Recycled Plastic, I will also be supported by the crew at Bluefin SUPs who are supplying my board and paddle, as well as my awesome daughter, Georgia, and my great friend Amy Harbour, both of who ensured that the project ran smoothly.

All of that meant nothing however, without YOUR support, so please help me and be on my team by donating to this cause, either a little or a lot, you know what's right for you, because every penny will be well used.

THIS PAGE WILL STAY OPEN UNTIL THE END OF MARCH.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the Surfers Against Sewage. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

You can keep up to date by following me on Instagram @jasondelaterreta and by liking my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/jasonpaddleboard

Thank you for reading this. I really appreciate your support.

Jason