Auchinstarry Marina is home to new social enterprise paddleboarding school!

Central Scotland Adventures aims to provide subsidised lessons and activities in a fun and safe environment, thanks to husband and wife team Rab and Jos Wallace with a team of fellow paddleboarding enthusiasts.

The not-for-profit scheme is squarely slanted at those in families with vulnerable circumstances, those with assisted learning support needs, those with a physical disability and injured veterans.

However it can also cater for corporate 'team building' style events and parties too.

It is billed as as a win-win for clients who benefit from a tailored experience for their tastes and abilities while at the same time knowing their business generates income that is reinvested to support the social side of the enterprise.

Co-founder, and soon to be retired Lieutenant Colonel, Rab Wallace said: ‘If you happened to venture outside at all last year you were probably faced at some point with the sight of an out of breath individual in a wet suit pumping up a paddleboard! “Paddleboarding has dramatically increased in popularity over the last few years, especially over lockdown.

"However, it is certainly not a cheap sport, with the average decent board, kit and safety accessories totalling around £1,000 at least.

"Once I had experienced the benefits of the sport for myself and saw first-hand the positive impacts it was having on my family and clients, I knew I had to get paddleboarding to the masses. It felt like an obvious approach to attempt a social enterprise model where we could reinvest profit from day-to day activities and provide subsidised lessons and kit hire for those most in need.

"With increasing pressure on all of us through cost-of-living rises, it’s important that safe and healthy outlets for exercise and mental health remain available to all of us."

"We are so grateful for all the help and advice we have received from so many people; I can’t wait to see what the year ahead brings for us all.’