Commonwealth Row – Richard Allen - Speaker 21st Nov 2019

We attended the Rotary partners' meeting on Thursday 21st November at Ivy Hill Hotel and the speaker for the evening was former Royal Marine commando, Richard Allen.  He rowed a solo and unsupported journey in a 7.3 metre rowing boat covering 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, beginning at Sierra Leone, West Africa and completing at Guyana, South America with the sole aim of raising awareness of the Commonwealth and its 2.4 billion citizens.  This trip was also geared towards raising funds for charities and foundations operating within the Commonwealth which are assist through health, education, enterprise and generally helping people.

Richard spoke in depth of his experiences during the row, and the problems encountered; this included 3 out of 4 broken oars, a fear of heatstroke and a capsizing incident when he was separated from his boat by approximately 150 metres.  

There followed a Q&A session, when much discussion took place.

Commonwealth Row – Rowing The Atlantic Ocean Solo Without Leaving The Commonwealth

www.commonwealthrow.com

 Richard's chosen charities were as follows : 

Street Child
Street Child is a UK charity, established in 2008, that aims to create educational opportunity for some of the most vulnerable children in Africa and Asia. Starting in Sierra Leone, the world's poorest country, we have supported over 60,000 urban and rural children to access a quality education.      www.street-child.co.uk  

The Guyana Foundation
The Guyana Foundation is a non-profit trust registered under the laws of Guyana. Its mission is to release the power of people globally to assist Guyanese to transform their communities, bring fulfillment and well-being to their families, enabling them to build relations of trust and friendship across the country in an effort to restore hope and purpose, rebuild lives, and create a better future for all Guyanese.
www.guyanafoundation.com 

RCEL - Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League

Our remit is to help ex-Service men & women who served The Crown and are now in need. We are privileged to have HRH The Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh as our Grand President. Benevolence monies are dispensed to beneficiaries through a network of ex-Service Organisations across the Commonwealth.

www.commonwealthveterans.org.uk

More information can be found on these websites 

This report and the photos by John James, uncle of Richard Allen