Paddlers Against Poverty

Who we are

Paddlers Against Poverty is a crew of people brought together by a common love of being on the water. We meet together to get out and paddle, create caring community, work together to care for the vulnerable around us, and experience the world around us. Our motto — no one paddles alone. What that means is when we head out for a paddle together, no one will be left behind, no one will be left without someone to talk to and enjoy the paddle experience with, and everyone will be helped as and when they need it — not just while out on the water, but during unloading, setting up, packing up and loading up again. But this crew and its motto isn’t just limited to the water.

Paddlers Against Poverty is intended to give people a place of connection and support. If you’re connected to our crew, you don’t have to do life alone. Paddlers Against Poverty is more than just a paddle group — we are a community of people who have similar and shared passions and interests, and we are there for each other not just on the water, but off of it too.  Whatever you are going through in life, whether that be the moments of joy and celebration or the moments of grief and stress, you have people to share those moments with, to make the good times greater and to make the hard times easier. 

When and where

• Event days: First and third Sundays of every month (including winter)
• Meeting time: 2.30pm
• Location: Start spots vary around greater Hobart

Good to know 

• All of our paddles are ‘no drop’ which means you can go at your pace, go as far or as fast as you are comfortable going, and if you want to head back, you won't have to do it alone.
• We are open to all types of paddle craft. We have recreational kayaks, stand up paddle boards, sea kayaks, surf skis, canoes, and various inflatable kayaks and boards join us for our paddles.
• Safety first: We ask that anyone paddling with us adheres to the requirements of Marine and Safety Tasmania (MAST) and has a life jacket (50nm as minimum) and any other kind of safety equipment relevant to their craft as mandated by MAST (for instance, leg leash for SUP).
• No paddle craft? No worries. If you want to join us, we have a very limited supply of spare craft that we can organise for you. Please contact us a few days in advance to organise a craft and equipment by either reaching out through Facebook, email or calling our group leader Joel.

Helping the community 

A highlight of our activities is the Paddle Against Poverty 10k Charity Event, shared participation with our partner team at Clarence City Salvos for the Red Shield Appeal, packing Grab and Go School Lunch packs for teenagers doing it tough once each school term, or maybe something else. We work together to build up our community, to make the people, spaces, and places around us healthier, stronger, and more resilient.

Everyone connected to Paddlers Against Poverty is encouraged to find that area of life that they feel passionate about, and to go out and start making a difference in that space. Wherever we can Paddlers Against Poverty will encourage, support, and assist people to do something good and life-changing for someone else.

Who can join?

We do not require that anyone has a Christian faith to paddle with us, but a number of our crew identify as believers in Jesus and find paddling a great way to connect with the transcendent, but for others, we understand that this is not their thing.

For those of us with a faith, ‘No One Paddles Alone’ means that we each are connected to the omnipresent God, the One who was, and is, and is to come.

No one paddles alone meaning learning God is with us everywhere we go 

Some of those who paddle with us believe that we find connection to God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and by the strength and power of the Holy Spirit at work within us. We are linked in and connected to our God who loves us, cares about us, and has a design and a plan for our lives that will lead us to find the most healthy and fulfilling expression of who we are and who we have been created to be. 

When we are out paddling, we find ourselves reminded of the words of the psalmist who wrote, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence,” and then listed places as vastly separated as high above the ground, deep below it, way out to the east, such that it is beyond the dawn, or across the vastness of the ocean to the west where the sun has not yet reached. We reflect on the many and varied places that God can find us, connect with us, and work through us. 

As we paddle, we may also remember of the words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Christians in Rome that tell us that nothing can separate us from the love of God — nothing in all creation, whether big or small, powerful or insignificant can remove us from a place where God’s love for us is not expressed towards us, through Jesus. 

As paddlers, we have one of the greatest avenues available to marvel and wonder at the presence of God as we paddle. As we look around us and see the wonderful world that God has created and brought into being; we see and observe the animals, birds and fish, around us, we share with each other in the understanding that we are all equally created in the image of God and are all equally loved by him, we sense and experience the presence of God who is always there. 

We believe that ’No One Paddles Alone’ because God is always with them; through bad times and good, through joy and pain, through success and failure, whether we can sense and perceive it or otherwise. 

How to participate? 

To participate, please fill out the registration form.

To find out more about Paddlers Against Poverty, contact us.