24 hour charity dive
Our 60th anniversary was a year of big events and we wanted to continue with one major event per year. the thought was to raise some money for charity and have a little bit of diving fun as well, so what better way than a 24 hour dive.
Logistics were easy, get some divers together, get a venue and choose some charities!
After a bit of discussion we decided on Eccleston Delph. fortunately they agreed and allowed us use of the site overnight (leaving us with access and an open toilet block).
We then decided on the charities, and using Just Giving, set up a Gofunding site to collect for St Abbs Lifeboat, Marine Conservation and our club (equal thirds).
Several meetings later everyone had a job, we had volunteers starting to offer their help and an offer of professional standard gazebos from a market company. All that was needed was for the day to begin.
It had all gone very smoothly up till that point and so the day arrived. The promised set up team (Simon, Alf, JK, Mark and Paul) had arrived and we set up base and the first dive began. The idea was to have a set of divers ready to go and one set diving, rotating at about the hour mark. During the day, when the centre was open, the dives could go down to the max depth of 18 meters (after closure the maximum depth would be set at 6-8 meters).
The first dive pair completed and the second went in for their shift. This is where it started to be slightly problematic as their were only five divers to start with so we were completing shifts with only a short surface interval. We had Brad turn up to do shore watch but by 3pm we were all on our third dive and in need of the cavalry. Brad had gone home and returned with his kit and Phil arrived with kit.
Fortunately more club members began arriving and by about 5pm we had 8/9 divers and by 9pm we had 14 divers so shifts became a bit easier. From this point on we rotated carefully ensuring that divers were recorded in and out.
We kept a constant check on divers throughout, changing teams and sometimes having to disappoint pairings to ensure experience and less experienced were balanced.
Everyone involved supported each other throughout and the clubs Team work cam through ensuring we finished on a high.
Brad took on chef duties rolling out bacon, egg and sausages for everyone. Brews were readily available and people took time to catch up on some sleep. Finally we celebrated Joe’s birthday with a cake and a candle.
We raised over £1000 in total and this has been divided out between the three charities.
Thank you to al who were involved, diving, organising, shore watch, donating etc. Without you this wouldn’t have worked.
Keep an eye out for next years charity event.
