This week: James MacDonald of local charity Pass It On Africa

“Some of the difficulties we will be facing for the Channel Paddle are the sea, the hour to hour weather conditions, fatigue, dehydration, heat stroke, sea sickness, channel ferries, tankers and a few sharks. For this crossing we are having the boards specially made and we are hoping to bring an endurance world first to Brighton beach. This particular Channel crossing route has never been attempted on a paddle board and it could take anything from 24 to 40 hours to complete.”

James MacDonald and his team are attempting to be the first people to paddle 72 miles across the widest part of the English Channel, from Fecamp, France to Brighton Beach on Saturday 1 September. The purpose of The Channel Paddle is to raise funds for Pass It On Africa, the Brighton-based charity working to build schools and support education in some of the poorest parts of Africa. They’re doing this paddle specifically to try and raise the last £2,000 needed to finish the building of a junior school in Ghana. As part of their training, James and his team will be paddling continuously between the two piers, from sunrise to sunset on Saturday 14 July. People can make a donation and potentially win something back via either of the team’s two ‘Guess2Give’ fundraising pages:
login.guess2give.com/event/james_macdonald/916 and
login.guess2give.com/event/james_macdonald/930.
Thanks to official sponsors The Hilton Brighton Metropole, the person who makes the most guesses on their Sunrise to Sunset Pier Paddle page will win a Champagne Afternoon Tea for two and the person who makes the most guesses on their Channel Paddle page will win Sunday Brunch for four, both at The Hilton Brighton Metropole .
www.pioafrica.org.uk/content/nexyfrevent