A Kilmarnock man, together with his friend, completed a paddleboard challenge at Loch Lomond in 8 hours 30 minutes, including a pit stop, to raise vital funds for a charity that ‘saved’ him.
Jack Allsop and Fiona Chambers raised over £1,100 for Break the Silence – a charity that provides a range of tailored, professional support options in North and East Ayrshire for people affected by childhood sexual trauma.
Jack decided to organise a fundraiser to raise awareness and to remind people that if they have experienced sexual abuse, “it was not their fault” and it is okay to speak out, get therapy and in his case, justice.
He said: “Break the Silence is for people, men or women, that have experienced childhood sexual abuse.
“I feel strongly about this, and I am taking this opportunity to tell people that I was sexually abused as a child, and that it was not my fault.
“Break the Silence helped me a lot through my court case.”
Jack and Fiona are no strangers to chilly conditions as they both met at the Polar Bear Club in Glasgow.
Jack is also a world champion in an ice bath after spending six hours and one minute in zero degrees/two degrees ice water.
While Fiona is a world record holder with the Record Holders Republic, after she entered a 1,000-litre ice bath and completed 619 resets – head under and then up – in zero degrees water.
The duo started their 18-mile challenge at 8am from Balloch and completed it at around 4.40pm at Tarbet, just after the sun was down.
Jack and Fiona both found it challenging as at the beginning they experienced some rough water which they found hard to get through.
Jack said: “The challenge went great the weather was perfect. However, after one hour or so we hit some conditions on the water that was pushing us back but we overcame it and kept going.
“The most challenging part was being on our knees for so long I had to do some stretches on the paddleboard to keep me going.”
Fiona, from Motherwell, added: “The first nine miles we had islands to navigate which kept the mind sharp, and we got quite hungry too so that gave us mental focus to get to the halfway mark for some food.
“We also experienced some rough water in the first half which was quite hard to get through as the water was pushing against us, so for a while it felt like we weren’t getting very far.
“The second half was a very straight route, which sounds like it would be better but it was the opposite. Our focus points started to seem like an illusion, they looked like they weren’t too far away but seemed to take such a long time to reach.”
Fiona said: “We did the challenge in record time, I think it was around eight hours 30 minutes including our pit stop break. Prior to the challenge, our research indicated it could take around 12 hours, so we were really happy with this timing.
“We did just keep going as fast as we could though as we knew daylight would soon run out. Luckily we landed at our finishing point just after the sun was down so we didn’t have to paddle in complete darkness.”
The duo stopped at Luss and had a break for 45 minutes before they carried on to Tarbet.
Throughout the day, Jack and Fiona were supported by their friends from Polar Bear Club, Michael Kiernan and Bernadette Lafferty who helped to set up everything in Balloch and met the duo at the finishing line.
Fiona said: “I didn’t train for this challenge so I possibly could have been fitter for it, perhaps then I wouldn’t be so sore now. But I believe in the power of the mind and that your body is capable of so many things when you trust in your mind. This is a mindset I believe I have established through my ice training.
“I would like to say thank you to everyone who has supported us in this challenge with their kind words, donations and especially to our support team Michael and Bernadette, who followed us all the way on the road. They even swam out to give us a little nudge of encouragement at one point.
“We also had a lovely donation from strangers on Luss beach. They had been talking to Michael and Bernadette as we set off for our second half and they thought it was a great cause we were doing it for and donated. Kindness from strangers I always think is a special kind of kindness.”
Jack said: “Would I do something like this again? Yeah, I would, but not paddleboarding as this was extremely sore but it was a experience I will never forget.
“I am very appreciative that Fiona came and supported me by my side the whole way. I could not do this challenge myself.
“Also to Bernadette and Michael for being our support team on the land following us all the way to the finishing point. It was nice to know we had someone there keeping an eye on us.
“Also to my better half for phoning me looking for updates and last but not forgotten to all the people who have helped us raise so much for a well-deserving charity.”
To support Jack and Fiona, donations can be made here.
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