Last year, I completed a 30km paddleboard challenge to raise money for Warrington Animal Welfare. This year, I'm taking on an even bigger challenge. On May 19th I'll be stand up paddleboarding from the west coast to the east coast of Scotland along the Caledonian Canal to raise funds for this incredible charity.

As a volunteer at WAW, I've seen firsthand the amazing work they do every day to help unwanted, stray and abandoned animals in Warrington and local areas. Their mission is to raise awareness of responsible pet ownership, provide low-cost neutering for pets whose owners are on benefits/low income, and support local communities via rescue and rehoming services. The charity is solely funded on donations and fundraising efforts which is why I'm pushing myself to complete this personal challenge.

We are sharing this with our followers as we would love you to support Catherine and WAW. The goal for this huge challenge is to raise £5000 so we are able to build a recovery room for dogs once they have had surgery. Currently we are only able to operate on smaller dogs as we do not have the room or facility to care for larger dogs post op. This recovery room will ensure that our vet nurse will be able to sit and care for animal after the operation.

This recovery room is vitally needed and will ensure that we are able to help more animals that we currently do have the facility to do so.

The Challenge

Day One

The expedition will be my hardest and most challenging mission yet but I'm excited for it! Currently training throughout winter building my strength, stamina and working on my technique. Starting at Fort William on day one, I'll head through Neptunes Staircase which is a series of locks. There are a total of 29 locks on the journey which means a lot of portaging - This is the part I'm least looking forward too. The last part of day one is to paddle Loch Lochy which is 10 miles long where I will rest overnight at Laggen Locks.

Day Two

Day two will see me paddling through Loch Oich approximately 5 miles followed by 10 miles of canal paddling until I reach Fort Augustus, the entrance to Loch Ness. Loch Ness is going to be the biggest part of the challenge as conditions can be similar to the sea with waves reaching up to 3 metres high and weather turning quickly. I will paddle approximately 7 miles of Loch Ness where I will rest for the night on the shore of Loch Ness and hopefully will not get visited by the famous Nessy!

Day Three

On day three, I will continue the 14 mile paddle to the end of Loch Ness passing the beautiful Urqhart Castle and keeping a close eye out for any monsters lurking in the water below me. I will now be at the final leg of my challenge with just approximately 7 more miles of canal paddling to the finish line!!!

It would mean so much if you could donate towards my target amount of £5000 so that Warrington Animal Welfare can continue their fantastic work and build the much needed recovery room.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to Warrington Animal Welfare making it an efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.