From 6am to 6pm on Sunday 11th December 2022, Inver Colpa Coastal Rowing Club and SK Fitness will host a 12 Hour Charity Skipathon and Bikeathon in Scotch Hall Shopping Centre to raise much-needed funds for the Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service. 

The Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service is a voluntary organisation based on the Marsh Road, Drogheda.

Over the centuries it was a tradition of the fishermen on the Boyne to give up fishing and concentrate solely on a search until missing colleagues were recovered.

From this tradition evolved the modern day rescue service who are highly trained in a number of skills, such as Swiftwater Rescue, Diving, Power Boat Handling, Emergency Rescue Care, Oxygen therapy etc. 

The team undertakes many rescues along the Boyne throughout the year, resulting in many lives saved, often the team will have to administer Emergency First Aid until the relevant authorities arrive.

They also provide a search and recovery service to people and communities who have lost loved ones through drowning tragedies on the rivers, lakes and sea around the 32 counties of Ireland.

The mission statement of the Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service states that "If the Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service receive a call to anywhere in the 32 counties of the Island of Ireland, where possible the Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service will never refuse to attend, and where possible shall stay until the missing person is returned to their family." They are proud of the fact that their mission statement has yet to be broken.

The Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service comprises of 30 volunteers who are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and are alerted through a VHF paging system when required. 

Members of the Inver Colpa Coastal Rowing club will be skipping and biking alongside staff and members of SK Fitness to keep those skipping ropes and bicycle wheels moving for 12 full hours across the day.

A lot of training has gone into this event to get the team’s fitness levels as high as possible.  Well done to Johnny Carter, Fergal Fagan, Martin Murphy, David Devlin and Ian Brady for their dedication!

Inver Colpa would also like to sincerely thank Scotch Hall Shopping Centre for hosting the event.

Any donations would be sincerely appreciated at the dedicated Go Fund Me page