Back in 2019 following the success of the Inclusive Paddlesport Project we had run that summer with Fife CAG, Aberdeen Kayak Club, and Forth Canoe Club and in partnership with Scottish Disability Sport(SDS) and the MS Society we seemed to be building some real momentum. People had seen the film and the Facebook posts and we began to get further enquiries through the MS society in Inverness and even Orkney asking could we support a similar initiative in their area.

Having already worked with Inverness Canoe Club and following some phone calls and a meeting in Inverness it resulted in members of the MS Society joining the pool sessions in Inverness in early January of 2020.

Orkney offered a different challenge, for a start its not just a quick nip up the road and I only really knew one member of Kirkwall Kayak Club in Orkney. That was Nick Blowfield whom I had emailed and spoken to about an article he had written for Scottish Paddler, on how he and the club had supported young adults to take part in paddlesport through Scottish Autism. 

So I contacted Nick who was really enthusiastic from the start and after some initial discussions with the club, SDS, MS Society and Orkney Islands Council we began planning some inclusive paddlesport sessions for the summer of 2020. Not to be deterred by lockdown and hoping things would settle down, we all stayed in contact; Nick from Kirkwall Kayak Club, Heather Lowden and Kirsty Ewen from SDS, George Hannah and Allan Jamieson from the MS Society and Joanne Cairns from Orkney Islands Council and myself. 

The plan began to evolve in the hope we could make it happen in the summer of 2021. The idea was that we would run pool sessions at the start of the week for confidence and when people had had time to recover, run some sea sessions and include some Paddle Ability training somewhere in between. 

The next thing was how we were going to pay for it? This was when Nick again arrived with the solution. In most clubs constitutions it states that should that club fold any remaining funds should be donated to a like minded club or organisation and this is what the former committee of Orkney Sea Kayaking Association chose to do when they heard of this project being planned in Orkney.  This enabled me to travel, stay in Orkney for a week to support the club and take along a selection of adaptive equipment, hire the swimming pool at The Pickaquoy Centre for pool sessions and a room at the St Magnus Centre for Paddle Ability training at no cost to the participants. It is also hoped that this will also help fund some adaptive equipment for the club to be able to use in the future which is a great legacy. 

Finally on the evening of Thursday 29th of July, me, Jo and Jasper our dog set off in a fully loaded car and two boats up the A9 for an overnight stay at the inlaws near Inverness, before setting off to catch the lunchtime ferry on Friday from Gills Bay to St Margarets Hope in Orkney. It was great that we finally arrived in Orkney, after so much planning involving so many people, as well as so much waiting and uncertainty as to whether this would ever be able to happen!