Rower has the Atlantic in her sights
With just weeks to go before she sets off on a gruelling attempt to cross the Atlantic single handed, Kelda Wood is celebrating hitting her sponsorship target.
The former Para athlete and charity founder, who suffered a life-changing injury to her leg in 2002, is set to become the first adaptive person ever to solo row the Atlantic.
The support for her latest campaign, Row to Raise has been phenomenal and reaching her target means that Kelda and her boat, Storm Petrel have secured their place at the start line of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge 2018.
On the December 12, Kelda will set sail on her 3,000-mile journey west - from San Sebastian in La Gomera to Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean.
The Row to Raise campaign is inspired by the work of Kelda’s charity, Climbing Out, which she set up in 2010. Using her life-long passion, sport, Climbing Out runs 5-day outdoor activity programmes aimed at rebuilding confidence and self-esteem in young people who have been through a life changing, injury, illness or trauma.
Throughout the duration on the row, Kelda will be rowing for a different young person each day who has been through some kind of mental or physical trauma.
Row to Raise will be sharing their stories and links to relevant charities and organisations which provide support.
As a result, Kelda is hoping to reach many young people who are currently feeling isolated and alone, and inspire them to contact support networks - as well as raising vital funds for Climbing Out.
"I’m very relieved to have the sponsorship to get to the start line”, said Kelda.
“And so grateful for the support of the amazing team and all the sponsors who’ve helped get me here. I’d like to say a special thank you to the main sponsors of Row to Raise, Nick Jones Wealth Planning, Chrisbeon Office Supplies, APT Solutions and The St James’s Place Foundation for their continued backing and generosity.
“Getting to this point has been a huge challenge but it has all been worth it. Now that all the sponsorship is in and there's just one month to go until I fly to La Gomera I want the focus to be one hundred per cent on the main objective of the row... reaching and inspiring young people, raising awareness and raising funds to run future Climbing Out programmes.”
To learn more about Kelda's challenge go to www.rowtoraise.com, follow the campaign on Twitter @rowtoraise or you can donate to Climbing Out
