The Paddle Against Poverty is an annual ocean paddle event organised by the North Wollongong chapter of the Christian Surfers. This coming Saturday, May 2, they'll hold the 2015 paddle so Swellnet thought it timely to have a chat with Aaron Hughes, spokesman and organiser (one of the many) of the Paddle Against Poverty.

Swellnet: The Paddle Against Poverty has been running for a number of years, can you provide some history?
Aaron Hughes: Sure, this is the 15th anniversary. It started in 2001 with a handful of grommets, I believe it was Mark Groves, he's from Austinmer, and was leading the local CS group at the time. A few groms in the group decided they wanted to sponsor a child through Compassion. As they were just a bunch of grommets without any money they wondered what they could do, and Mark suggested they could do a paddle-a-thon.

They set that up, and being groms they got super ambitious right from the start and and wondered why, instead of sponsoring just one kid, they don't sponsor five kids. They figured they could raise enough to sponsor five children for a year. And to top it off they said they'd commit to them for ten years to see them all through school.

All this before the first paddle?
All before the first paddle. They were just a handful of grommets with a couple older guys. They went for it, did it, and they raised enough to cover all the sponsorship they said they would.

Meaning how much?
In the first instance it was about $2,500.

And now they go back every year and do it?
Every year since then it's happened. We did see those first five children through school. It's since changed a bit but we still commit to sponsoring five children.

A new five kids every year?
No, it changes. Sometimes kids leave the program or different circumstances arise meaning they're not included in the program and other kids are. But as much as we can, we commit long term to particular children. We raise much more than the amount for five children now.

Is that because more people do the paddle?
Yeah, we have a lot more people involved but also because we've switched to raising money online. People find it easier to donate online than having a little sponsorship sheet and us going around knocking on doors, taking it to work or whatever. If you have it online, share it on social media your friends and family can easily donate.

Where does the money over and above sponsorship go?
It's too difficult to split it up so it all goes to Compassion Australia. We specifically designate that amount to sponsor the five children, the rest of the online money goes into a fund for children who are in the program but don’t have a particular sponsor yet.

Compassion have hundreds, if not thousands of kids, who need to have sponsors but don't have sponsors yet. So the money we raise contributes to the unsponsored children. On top of that all cash donations this year will stay local and benefit the Thirroul Neighbourhood Centre’s Emergency Relief program, serving people in this area who are struggling with poverty.

Lets talk about the paddle then, it starts at Stanwell Park, right?
It actually starts at Wollongong, Stanwell Park is our back up if there's northerly winds. We do not paddle against the winds. It's happened before, let's hope it never happens again! We're trusting Swellnet will get the forecast right.

[Forecasters note: It's looking like northerly winds!]

We paddle with the winds. Typically it's always southerly winds so we paddle from Wollongong Harbour to Thirroul we which we estimate is around 15 kilometres, its probably a bit shorter than that but would be 15 by the time we arrive.

What sort of craft get paddled?
All sorts of craft. It used to be mainly surf rescue boards that we'd borrow from surf clubs but now there is far more diverse craft involved and people paddle everything from kayaks and wave skis, surf rescue boards, and these days we get a lot more people on Stand Up Paddleboards.

How many people set off from the start line?
Last year was our biggest ever, there was about 98 people, I think, in the end. We almost got to 100 which we were pretty surprised at.

And how many made it to the finish line?
All 98. One thing we do is stick together and let people know that it's not a race. We're not trying to prove our manliness, or womanliness as it may be, we're just sticking together making sure all the stragglers are keeping up. We've got some jet ski tows, so anyone who's falling way behind can keep with the pack.

I believe you're gonna have a mascot this year too?
We are going to have a mascot: Tina the Llama is paddling with us. Tina has an interesting backstory, not the least that she used to be Larry the Llama. Larry was ejected from a Rip Curl party during Bells, rescued by a couple of groms, lost a leg, given a sex change, and transported all the way to Stanwell Park. Now she's ready to paddle.

What sort of craft will Tina be paddling on?
I believe Tina will be on a 10 foot SUP. Some grommets from Stanwell Park have some interesting plans for her. She's a unique piece of fibreglass, is Tina. And she's been around too...

Hey, let's not say anything bad she's helping raise money 
Yeah, she's helping us raise some money.

If you'd like to join the paddle or donate to the Paddle Against Poverty click here.