London Youth Rowing has a long standing relationship with The Boat Race. Since it;s foundation in 2004 the charity has gone from strength to strength. The Boat Race Fund is proud to support the charity’s first initiative outside London.
Many young people from Bradford and Wakefield had never considered taking up rowing. We are delighted to have played a part in changing this. Thanks to this funding over 400 children had the opportunity to learn how to row.
The Active Row Leeds programme is build on a well established model. Inclusivity and accessibility are at the core of their approach. London Youth Rowing work with schools that have higher levels of underprepresenttaaion within their community. This is not limited to race or socioeconomic group but also Special Educational Needs and Disability.
London Youth Rowing organised school based club sessions led by dynamic and engaging coaches.Clubs are open to all pupils, ensuring the widest possible participation. Half of all project attendees came from an ethnic group. 8.5% of participants had Special Educational Needs or a Disability.
There is careful attendance monitoring of those taking part in the clubs and London Youth Rowing noticed hat more boys than girls were accessing the program. In response to this situation, teh offered a ‘girls only club’ to schools as a way of changing the focus and dynamic of the project. It worked, more girls attend sessions. Together, they build a strong network so they could benefit from everything that the programme had to offer. Tasked with an indoor rowing based activity which helps them to practice and develop that life skill. Typically, the groups then discusses ow they might improve the outcome of the task and retry it together. During other sessions, the group might dive straight into the activity before the students which life-skills they developed during the session.
The Active Tow programme helps young people to develop skills including teamwork, leadership, resilience, problem-solving and goal setting. In sessions, the students might discuss a life skill. They are then
When the funding was announced, Tim Senior, Chair of The Boat Race Company said: “One of our strategic goals is to help shape a better shared future, using the history and heritage of the Boat Race to support a more inclusive and representative future in rowing. Supporting beneficiaries such as LYR will help a broader group of young people gain vital sporting experiences and learn new skills to transfer into everyday life.”
The funding enabled the purchase of sufficient rowing machines to enrol an additional 10 Target schools, introducing 445 young people to rowing.
Matt Rostron, CEO, London Youth Rowing said: “After an incredible announcement that LYR will be branching outside of London for the first time, to Leeds, and now to be following up with this news is not only very exciting but a sign of the positive commitment to purpose-led social impact through sport, from organisations such as Gemini and The Boat Race. This very generous funding will enable us to expand on our Active Row Leeds programme which will now not only deliver coaching and investment but can purchase equipment to make rowing accessible for so many young people. Whilst this specific funding will be used to purchase equipment such as rowing machines and to hire a part-time coach, we will also be able to introduce these young people to potential on-water venues and activities and work with them to further their development and access to sport, and the benefits.”
Find out more about London Youth Rowing HERE