From Strangers to Paddling Friends: AquaPaddle Arrives in the Lakes

I first heard about AquaPaddle through a colleague at work, they suggested we started up an AquaPaddle as the first location in the lakes! We absolutely saw that chance and took it. There are so many people in the lakes looking out for for something new and exciting to get involved in and we instantly got people signing up when the events went live. Being on a National Trust property brings so many visitors, making it the perfect spot to run AquaPaddle from.

The onboarding process was simple. I got in touch with Brett from AquaPaddle, who instantly organised an introduction phone call. After that, I set up a profile, and Brett helped me become a ‘Captain’. A subsequent Zoom call was held to run through everything on the website, from setting up dates to risk assessments. This was a very detailed call, and Brett made sure we all knew he was only ever a phone call away whenever we needed help or had any questions. After the calls and setting up profiles, he let us loose to create events and set about sharing them round local groups.

Our events so far have been such a lovely experience. People turn up as strangers and leave as friends, arranging to go paddling together in the future. Most of our paddlers stuck around to welcome everyone back over the finish line, some then headed to the café with people they hadn’t met before today for a coffee, cake and chatter. Others headed back out on the water and continued their paddle with new friends. It is such a lovely atmosphere and I’m so proud of how it’s turning out and the community feel to it. I’m very happy that paddlers are helping me to share the news around to their friends and families, we even have some returning paddlers each month!

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