Brett Scillitoe

Brett Scillitoe first paddle boarded in Adakoy in Turkey in 2013 and 3 years later started to paddle more regularly. So much so, that he set up Dittons Paddle Boarding in April 2017 from Ditton Beach in Thames Ditton, near Hampton Court, SW London. The basis of the club was to offer people a go at paddle boarding for free. There were a number of commercial organisations locally charging quite a lot and Brett wanted to get more people involved who might not have been able to afford the high prices.

Roll forwards a couple of years and Brett wanted to widen the benefits of Paddle Boarding to even more people, especially for the wellbeing, mental and physical health benefits of the sport. This is when the idea of setting up a charity first started and would include a regular timed 5k paddle, to help build a supportive community around the charity. Three years later in 2021, AquaPaddle is a Charity and a movement.