Canoe Club Ukraine fundraiser in full swing

Helen Thompson, Johnny Barry and Michael O'Farrell early on the water this morning.

The Kilcullen Canoe Club fundraiser for the Irish Red Cross Ukrainian Refugee Crisis Appeal has been under way since 8am and is already paddling up many kilometres on and off the water, writes Brian Byrne.

The relay-style event is designed that a total of  981 kilometres will be paddled by participants, the length of the Dnipro River that flows through Ukraine. There's an online raffle associated with the event with a magnificent prize list that include hotel stays, restaurant vouchers, a couple of Nespresso machines and lots more which can be accessed here.  

"We have had an amazing response since we announced this event," says the club's Diane Brown. "We're getting participation from all over, including other canoe clubs, and we're expecting lots of people to come down and give our paddlers support through the day."

Diane Brown: 'Amazing response'.

The event will run until 8pm this evening, and as well as having relays of paddlers going up and down the river, there are two group trips planned — from Carnalway this morning and to Athgarvan this afternoon. "The Salmon Leap Canoe Club has also come on board — they will match a euro a kilometre paddled here today up to an agreed amount. The East Coast Sea Kayakers are involved, and we're hoping that Ronan Foley's club in Denmark, where he is training at the moment, will clock their times as well." Ronan is a former member of the club, and a gold and silver medallist at a number of international and world canoeing events.

There's tea, coffee and cakes available at the clubhouse through the day, and donations to the IRC can be made there. "It all came together very quickly — we only started about a week ago. But it's amazing what can be done when the different skills that members have are brought together ... we have someone who is good at graphic design, another good at working on the web, and others good at social media."

Paddling up the kilometres on the off-river exercise machines at the clubhouse.

Ukraine flags bedeck the club property.

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