Atlantic Challenge rowers to speak at Scottish Autumn Lecture

Two men who rowed 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in aid of Combat Stress will share their tales of adventure at our Scottish Autumn Lecture on 13 November.

Robin Drysdale and Will Theakston – two of the ‘Men of Oar’ rowing team – discuss how they overcame the sheer adversity of this year’s Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, regarded as the world’s toughest rowing race.

Rowing unsupported from the Canary Islands to Antigua and facing daily 20-foot waves, it is a monumental challenge. In fact, more people have been to space than have completed the race. The two men saw the challenge as the perfect opportunity to inspire both themselves and others in dealing with psychological pressures.

Will, 33, served two tours of Afghanistan. During this time he witnessed the impact of comrades struggling with their mental health. Speaking about the Atlantic Challenge he said: “The aim was to prove that adventure can be found by anyone. We wanted to inspire others to positively confront their diagnosis and prove that such challenges do not have to limit what can be achieved.”

Free to attend, our annual Scottish Lecture takes place at Loretto School in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh.

Book your tickets here or contact Kath Provan, our Scotland Fundraising Manager, for more information.

Registration starts at 6.30pm, with the lecture and subsequent Q&A session from 7-8pm.

To commemorate our centenary, the event will include a raffle to win one of the commemorative ceramic poppies that featured in the ‘Fields of Blood and Red’ display outside the Tower of London. The 2014 display was in recognition of the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.