Bewdley RC - Just Row it

Bewdley RC

Bewdley Rowing Club was established in 1887 and offers an open and friendly environment for rowers of all ages and abilities. Club members regularly work to provide and promote the sport specifically and fitness in general.

About the initiative

Following a decline in the number of people rowing in the Bewdley area, we are looking to increase participation in rowing at all ages and ability levels within the local community by ensuring that we can offer qualified coaches and the correct training equipment..

We currently have two routes for attracting membership:

Formal Route: (Specifically aimed at Juniors) - Project Oarsome. We have a tie up with local schools whereby we permanently loan them rowing machines and provide coaching, and then provide a 10 week water based supervised training programme after which time participants are invited to join the club.

Informal Route: An introduction to rowing is offered through the annual pub & club regatta, which involves 6 hours of water based training sessions followed by entry into the pub and club regatta where entrants compete against each other, or the New Rower days which are held every two months and at which time the new rowers are given 4 hours of land and water based training over one weekend.

We currently offer a varied membership depending on what you want your involvement in the club to be, but as an example somebody under the age of 18 can pay an annual membership which equates to £1 per week and somebody over the age of 18 between £2 and £4 per week. The member is entitled to use the club gym, the club house and have access to and use of several thousands of pounds worth of boats.

So entrance into the club can come from a variety of routes, but to ensure that we retain and attract members we need more appropriately qualified coaches. The most basic coaching course costs £250 which is currently funded by the club.

What we could do with a bronze award worth £1,000

This award would pay for 4 coaches to go on the ARA Level II course. They would have the ability to coach junior, senior and some rowers with disabilities, to a good level. They would be able to advise on training, aspects of diet and nutrition, and would have basic first aid training.

The club is run by volunteers. The main committee consists of the local undertaker, a retired teacher, an electrician, a bookkeeper and a local computer specialist. The club is funded by annual subscriptions, social evenings, sporting events and fund raising activities and every penny is important.

What we could do with a silver award worth £12,500 or even the gold award worth £50,000

£6,500 would buy a coaching launch to aid coaching and safety, and £4,000 would purchase mobile racking to allow boats to be moved more easily by less able bodied members. The Gold award would enable the club to build an indoor rowing tank which could be used all year round to provide a realistic yet safer introduction to water based rowing for anybody of any age or ability wanting to try rowing, or simply looking for another form of exercise.

Our final word

Anybody is welcome to join the club and we have just negotiated a tie up with a local fitness centre which enables members to have access to their gym, tennis courts and swimming pool. This tie up has attracted new members who want to get fit but not row.