A Lake District hotel has been helping a group of school pupils to paddle their way across Lake Windermere in a unique charity challenge.
Year 10 pupils from Beech Hall School in Macclesfield are seeking to raise £25,000 for the mental health charity PAPYRUS, which is dedicated to the prevention of young suicide.
As part of their ‘Mega Triathlon’, they enlisted the help of the Watersports Centre at Low Wood Bay to lend them canoes, paddles and safety equipment to complete the first leg of their Odyssey: paddling the 11 mile length of Windermere.
Following their canoeing leg, the teenagers then cycled 106 miles from Kendal to Disley before walking the remaining 13 miles back to their school in time for its end of year fundraising party.
Paul Brown from English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues, which runs the Watersports Centre at Low Wood Bay said: “We had such a lovely letter from pupil Tom Parkinson from the school asking for our help to support this challenge. We were really impressed by their determination, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to make the event happen and to let people know about such an important charity for young people.”
School teacher Hal Wycherley added: “We would like to thank Low Wood Bay for supporting our charity event by providing the canoes for the paddle down Windermere. The students were successful in completing it faster than expected with five hours of paddling from Waterhead to reach Fell Foot. We’ve currently raised over £14,500 with hopefully more to come!”
If you would like to donate to the school’s charity challenge, please visit https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/BeechHallMegaTriathlon
For further information about the Watersports Centre at Low Wood Bay, call 01539 439 441 or visit https://englishlakes.co.uk/low-wood-bay/watersports/