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Adrian Harkin has been the owner of Inish Adventures formerly known as Just Kayak based out of Moville in Co. Donegal and has been an integral part of the paddle sports community in the northwest of the country for the past 20 years. As well as introducing many current paddlers both young and old to the sport, Adrian also ran two very successful kayaking events for many years pre-covid, Cranafest in Buncrana, an event primarily focused around white water racing, slalom, and coaching and the Inishowen Sea Kayaking Symposium. Both of these events contributed greatly to the paddle sports community on this island bringing paddlers from the north and south together regularly for their annual pilgrimage to the northwest. Both events in their own unique way managed to foster a love for the river and sea and delivered on fun, education and support in a very safe environment. Adrian was diagnosed with MND 2 years ago. As you can imagine to a committed outdoor enthusiast such as Adrian, where both his personal and work life revolved around sport and an innate love for the outdoors this came as a terrible blow. Adrian being the man that he is decided to take the illness head on and leave a legacy behind that left the research programme for a cure to Motor Neuron Disease in better shape than it was before he came to it. Taking inspiration from the previously planned big paddle round a number of years ago that was planned by Donal O’Dowd. Adrian decided that this was the appropriate final event to end his participation in the outdoor community with. With the support of a close number of friends and family we planned to pull the kayaking community together one last time to complete a circumnavigation of the island of Ireland on April 20th 2024. As if this wasn’t enough he then came up with the idea to put someone on the top of each of the highest peak in all 32 counties on the same day which is a nod to his love for the mountains The very nature of the outdoor environment that we love so much means that there is no guarantee that the weather will play ball with us on the 20th, so they have planned fall back days of April 21st, 27th and 28th to complete the challenge. The intention is to put to water everywhere that it’s safe to do so with the best chance of success on the 20th including at Adrian’s home town of Moville. However the very nature of the event and the time of year it’s taking place meant that it was impossible for this to be a mass participation event. This needed to be a very controlled event leaning heavily on a close knit community of incredibly strong and experienced peer paddlers based all around the country. Each trip leader adopting a stretch of coastline in the order of 15 NM to paddle on the day in question. The organisational team have had countless offers from paddlers wanting to get involved from right around the country. Frustratingly they have been unable to accommodate these generous offers due to the nature of the sea kayaking event. So with that in mind, Adrian, never having been someone that wanted to exclude anyone, came up with the plan for the DIY for MND part of the event. So if you want to get involved in the event on April 20th you can take to the water with your friends, family, fellow club members and paddle for MND too. Plan your own paddle on your favourite bit of water that you normally paddle on, in your favourite canoe or kayak and try and help fundraise to support Adrian’s Legacy Seat to Summit for MND.

Sport Northern Ireland have commissioned a team from the Centre for Health, Activity and Wellbeing Research (CAWR) at Cardiff Metropolitan University to run a project to better understand the motivations of current outdoor sport participants and the demographics of individuals participating in these sports in an aim to support the development of outdoor sport clubs. If you are interested in taking part in the project which is voluntary and includes an online anonymous survey (approx. 10-15 minutes to complete), then please use the below QR code or click here

British Canoeing have published their December edition of Catch Up With Coaching which has the latest information on coaching for you to browse.

The Stand Up Paddleboard White Water Leader Course is appropriate for people who want to lead others on journeys on grade 2(3) white water rivers. Throughout this course you will be assessed on your personal paddling skills, rescue skills, incident management and more.

The Advanced White Water Safety course is designed to support kayakers and canoeists on grade 3 and 4 white water rivers The two day course will cover casualty management, moving around steep environments, dealing with stuck craft and paddlers, in complex environments. ‘Following on from the Introduction to White Water Safety and the White Water Safety courses, BCAB are delighted to launch the Advanced White Water Safety course. This programme is available to all those that operate within the advanced white water environment, and will be delivered by experienced individuals that regularly guide and play in such demanding venues. A huge thanks to the White Water Technical Group as well as those that have contributed in developing this training course’ Lee Pooley Director of Coaching & Qualifications. The Advanced White Water Safety course is a 2-day programme that consists of 12 modules. This can be delivered in a day or modular, over a maximum of an eight-week period to suit the participants. Participants need to either hold the relevant British Canoeing Awarding Body Personal Performance Award or equivalent ability in/on their preferred craft due to the paddling environment and the boat control required to complete the course. The NEW Advanced White Water Safety course will be available from 2nd January 2024. Please note, this course will replace the existing Advanced White Water Safety and Rescue (Ad.WWSR). Further updates will be promoted via the British Canoeing Awarding Body website and the ‘Catch up with Coaching’ newsletter. The British Canoeing Awarding Body website can be accessed by clicking the link.

British Canoeing are hosting a number of winter webinars. Sessions are open to all. Instructors, Coaches, Guides and Leaders will automatically have 5 CPD points added to their record for attending each Webinar. British Canoeing members will receive between 50% – 100% discounts on webinar fees, so please ensure your logged in before claiming your space. Sessions will be recorded and these recordings and any other resources used in the webinars will be accessible to all ticket holders. More information regarding the webinars can be found on the Paddles Up Training website. Click the links below to book your place onto the webinars. Learning about learning: An exploration into how people develop skill in paddlesport, and how we can help support this – 3 sessions in Jan/ Feb and March with Ed Christian Taking more control of your Paddling! – 23rd April at 19:30 – 21:00 with Chris Brain

This new elearning is an additional option for learners and doesn’t replace the current Safeguarding Refresher: Social Media elearning: both refresher courses will be available for learners, along with the Introduction to Safeguarding elearning. If you have already completed the current Safeguarding Refresher: Social Media and now need to extend your Safeguarding, the Safeguarding Refresher: Positive Safeguarding Culture will be your next elearning. If you haven’t needed to do a Refresher elearning yet, you have a choice of two courses: either Safeguarding Refresher: Social Media or Safeguarding Refresher: Positive Safeguarding Culture. You can choose the topic which best fits your needs.  You don’t have to do the current Social Media refresher first before the new Positive Safeguarding Culture refresher. Completing either eLearning for the first time will extend your Safeguarding for 3 years, you don’t have to do both at once. The elearning has 3 modules: a Refresher Core module, reviewing key safeguarding information including identifying and reporting concerns. a new Positive Safeguarding Culture module, focused on good safeguarding practice, how to embed it in your paddlesport club/organisation and what some of the positive outcomes can be. a Quiz module. The Safeguarding Refresher: Positive Safeguarding Culture elearning costs the same as current Safeguarding elearnings – £10 for national association members and £20 for non-members. The course will be available in the British Canoeing Awarding Body elearning store .