Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Life's a bit like a river. Sometimes it's smooth going and sometimes you have to deal with twists, turns, weirs and rocks trying to tip you in.

Respect ME works with young people up and down the country trying to help them navigate some of the choices that affect how easy it is to avoid some of the big rocks life can throw at us (like relationships, self-harm, substance abuse, or exploitation). Community Grocery provides food and community support where it's needed across the UK.

To raise funds for Respect ME, Community Grocery and the rest of The Message Trust I'm proposing to join some intrepid colleagues and launch myself down a river in a kayak and try and avoid ending up in the water too many times after bouncing off the rocks. I'm not an accomplished kayak pilot - I currently manage about 1 mile per capsize so if I were to complete the full distance (which depends on water conditions and a lot more practice...) that could be over 20 dunkings so I hope you agree this is excellent value for your sponsorship.

The original plan was to set off from Marple on the River Goyt and follow the water downstream until it's become the River Mersey and go as far as Barfoot Bridge where we can swap onto the Bridgewater Canal and finish up as close to Dunham School Bridge (the current end of the Bridgewater Canal since the collapse in January) as possible. The river conditions this June dictate that we start in Stockport so it's a shorter run but I'm just as likely to fall in!

So please sponsor me so that The Message can help more people navigate past their life rocks, weirs and rapids - refloat and stay upright!