Last Updated on 27/01/2025 by Jennifer
My name is Jennifer Greenlees and I have a passion for long distance Paddleboarding and fundraising. I have been making my way around the Irish Coast in sections as various fundraisers. I have stand up paddled the whole way around Northern Ireland and am slowly making my way around Ireland. I have been funding this myself so far but could really do with some help to cover travel expenses for my inland support team, rescue boats and accommodation.
My first long distance paddle was in March 2014 it was 75 miles along the East Coast of Northern Ireland from Portballintrae to Bangor which took me 3 days. This was fundraiser for my cousin Allyson Bells’s cancer treatment, we raised £3000. I had a safety boat accompany me for this and onland support. My press coverage included UTV News, Radio Ulster, DownTown Radio, Belfast Telegraph and the Daily Mail. Sadly my cousin did not survive her battle against cancer she died aged 54. She had done a lot of fundraising for Marie Curie so we gave the money to them. As I paddled along the East Coast of Ireland I thought of her, especially when I was passing Larne where she was from.
Here is my latest press which was exciting being on the front cover of the January 2023 edition of Local Women Magazine with a lovely feature inside.
I have been gradually making my way around the coast of Northern Ireland and fundraising along the way.Â
I also paddled from Donegal to Portballintrae (20 miles) in 1 day (5hrs) as a fundraiser for my friend who was getting cancer treatment and I raised £3000.
My last challenge was Bangor to Dublin which was a longer stretch 100 miles. This took a lot longer due to covid travel restrictions, weather conditions etc. But I did get it finished on 8th October. What I was most excited about was that during this challenge I hit a milestone of having paddled the whole way around Northern Ireland. I have raised £2500 so far for the RNLI.
If you take a look at the map attached this should explain my route better.
I have the paddle bug for sure now and would love to be the first person to paddle the whole way around Ireland. So I have decided to keep and keep the fundraising going for the RNLI as I would like to reach my target of £5000 or more.
Please sponsor me, this is the link for my just giving page and you can see lots of photos of my paddle around the Irish Coastline…. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jennifer-greenlees1
I am also currently looking for a sponsor as I have been paying for all my travel and fuel expenses for myself, my onland support team and rescue boat to get around Ireland. It would take the pressure off me if I had some help with this.
In return I have managed to get quite a lot of press coverage in newspapers including the Irish News, Belfast Telegraph, Sunday World, Daily Mail and Sunday Life. Radio shows such as Good Morning Ulster, Downtown Radio and Radio Ulster as I have gone along. I was also on UTV being interviewed by Pamela Ballintine. Being the first person to paddle all of Northern Ireland has raised interest in the press again and they have asked me to keep them posted as I go along.
Women’s Sports Gala AwardsÂ
I was the finalist at the Women’s Sport Gala Awards Ceremony on Friday 14th April held at the Europa Hotel. Awards being hosted by UTV Sports presenter Ruth Gorman. I was in the category for greatest sporting achievement. It was a wonderful surprise and a lovely night out.
This year I was nominated for Woman of the Year by Sport Ireland Outdoors: Outsider Awards 2023. This was another amazing night out in Dublin on February 21st. Hugely inspiring, I felt hugely honoured to be part of these events.
I get inspired being around others who have set their own sporting challenges and are dedicated to seeing them through. I recognise that it takes a lot of training, self discipline, early starts, late nights with sweat and tears along the way and I applaud everyone for getting through that.
I have paddled all of the North, South and East Coast of Ireland. I left what I think will be the hardest bit to last… The Wild Atlantic Way.
If you would like any more info please contact me.
Many thanks
Jennifer
P.S Â I started paddle boarding over 15 years ago when I lived in New York and was working in Montauk in the Hamptons. As I had a daily yoga practice going on and am into multitasking, to save time, I thought I would practice it on the paddleboard. My friend filmed me for the Hampton Feast online paper and it went viral and ended up on NBC world news. It was the start of the paddleboard yoga craze, no one had seen anyone doing yoga, nevermind a headstand on the paddleboard before!
Pps. This is another nice video of me teaching a paddleboard lesson as a pod of dolphins swam to us and under us!
People have been donating on my JustGiving page.
Click here to go to my Just Giving Page
You can watch my progress here or on my Facebook page.
If you go to my You Tube channel you can watch all the videos as well as follow my progress…
