Jamie Donnelly raises thousands of pounds after kayaking 16-miles on Loch Ericht in Scotland

Jamie Donnelly was joined by his kayaking companion, Piotr Gudan, to complete the challenge for the Teddy Bear Children Support group which has been helping to raise money for small children’s charities since being established ten years ago.

It took the experienced duo around five and a half hours to complete their expedition after setting off from Dalwhinnie Dam at 10am.

For the first eight miles of their trip, they had to overcome wind speeds of around 20 miles per hour and waves that were up to two-feet high before placing a Teddy Bear Children Support flag at the halfway point. The pair then turned around and coasted back to their starting point with the wind and waves behind them before placing down another flag at Dalwhinne Dam when they finished at around 3.30pm.

Speaking after the expedition – which took place on December 20, 2019 – Jamie Donnelly said: “It’s great to have raised so much money for a good cause, it’ll be going to a small centre for children with cerebral palsy in Scarborough which deserves our help.

“I’ve been doing challenges since 2015, and every time you complete one it strengthens your character that little bit more but there’s always nerves beforehand.

“We were prepared for the situation, though, and arrived in Dalwhinnie a couple of days before to acclimatise ourselves to the area and conditions. I was very confident going into the challenge because of my own experience, as well as that of my partner.

“There’s always a bit of nerves, but with our experience and planning they went away quite quickly, especially because we had the beautiful surroundings of the Munro mountains around us.”

Loch Ericht is a freshwater loch in mid-Scotland, around 25 miles away from both Ben Nevis and Loch Tay – a body of water that Jamie Donnelly has previously kayaked on back in 2017.

Comparing the two experiences, Mr Donnelly added: “It was a lot windier this time around on Loch Ericht than it was on Loch Tay where it was quite calm and peaceful.

“The winds on Loch Ericht are caused by the Munro mountains which are all around and create a pea shooter kind of wind on the loch.”

Jamie Donnelly has also kayaked in extremely challenging conditions on Loch Shin and Loch Ness in Scotland, while also recently climbing to the summit of Mount Nadelhorn in Switzerland in September.

He is now hoping to do a climbing challenge somewhere in Scotland this spring before completing another expedition later in the year.

You can also see highlights of Jamie's and Piotr's 16-mile kayak challenge on Loch Ericht here.