Callsign: Paddle Group

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The Paddle Group was born from a belief that doing hard things together can save lives.

It started simply enough: three close mates, paddling different routes, in folding kayaks, and enduring the long, slow, hard miles.

Paddling brought them back together, after years of service, like a 3-way train wreck.

Chris, Joe, and Lee started the Paddle Group not for glory, records, or Instagram likes, but because life had thrown each of them into rough water, mentally and physically. 

In life, there's only one thing left to do when you find yourself in rough water.....keep paddling.

Somewhere between the blisters, the cold and numb hands, the relentless portages, the continuous miles, and the endless horizons, something unexpected happened.

Paddling became healing.

For Lee, it became a way back from darkness.
For Chris, it became a lifeline through hardship.
For Joe, it became the place where challenge, discipline, and brotherhood still lived beyond service.

What we discovered was this: 

"Doing hard shit, in heavy, slow, folding kayaks, with good people...works"

In 2021, we launched Commando Paddle, our flagship expedition; a drunken conversation that morphed into a well planned event.

The idea was simple: create a brutally honest expedition that demanded courage, determination, unselfishness and cheerfulness in the face of adversity, in the country that demanded it, fostered it, and then capitalised on it...Commando Country (Scotland).

What followed exceeded anything we could have imagined.

Commando Paddle became more than an expedition, it became a movement.

Veterans found belonging. 

Serving personnel found reset and saw belonging beyond service. 

Civilians found experience. 

People who arrived broken left stronger, steadier, and connected. Stories emerged of recovery, resilience, re-connection, and discovery.

The Paddle Group grew, and it hasn’t stopped since.
 

Every paddle, every expedition, every freezing launch at dawn exists for one reason: to help people heal through shared hardship, challenge, and belonging.
 

There are no spectators in the Paddle Group. 

Everyone paddles. 

Everyone suffers. 

Everyone laughs. 

Everyone belongs, even if you're on the support team.

Why do we exist?

Because sometimes, what saves you isn’t therapy, medication, or silence.

Sometimes, it’s:

A heavy, slow folding kayak.
A brutal headwind.

A deflated sponson.
A cold sunrise.
And a group of people who won’t let you quit.

This is The Paddle Group.