Supporting our members through 2021

Every year has its defining moments, but 2021 will inevitably be remembered for the COVID-19 pandemic and its profound impact on our paddling activities

Supporting Members

• Rise in membership – We now have over 4,200 members, including over 3,500 On the Water members, 20 On the Bank members and 625 Club Associate members.
• More female paddlers – Our #ShePaddlesCymru programme and the appeal of paddleboarding to many women and families has seen our percentage of female members rise from 29% in Summer 2020 to 36% this Autumn. 
• Increased communications – We’re now sending out e-news to opted-in members every month with a round-up of recent developments. We’ve also increased our news articles on the website and our social media presence to keep you informed and updated. 
• Paddling trails – We have now released 6 new paddling trails. Downloadable as PDF or GPX, these trails have all the information you need to organise a trip. Current trails are: Mawddach Estuary, Llandegfedd Lake, Llyn Tegid, Llynnau Mymbyr, Teifi River & Estuary, and Lake Vyrnwy.
• 2021 Awards – In December, we announced the winners of our 2021 awards: Ben Higson (Paddler of the Year), Gareth Bryant (Coach of the Year), Mark Abbott (Alan Baker Volunteer of the Year), Luke Maguire (Young Volunteer of the Year), Angela Jones (Environmental Champion), and Llandysul Paddlers (Club of the Year). Find out more here. 
• Photo competition – Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, judging of our photo competition has been delayed till the new year. However, we can assure you we've had some fantastic entries and have picked 10 finalists for you to vote for in 2022.
• GoMembership to JustGo – Our online membership system has been upgraded from the GoMembership Member Portal to the JustGo Paddling Hub. Please remember to update any bookmarks to canoewales.justgo.com

Supporting Clubs

• Club funding – We have continued to support clubs with Sport Wales grant applications. We now have a total of 17 clubs who have received funding through this grant opportunity, with grants ranging from £312 to £21,844.
• Club grants – In March, we offered active clubs a grant to reimburse club affiliation costs over the past financial year (2020-21). In effect, this gave many clubs a year's affiliation for free.
• Club webinars – In collaboration with British Canoeing, we have launched a winter series of webinars to support clubs. The first on 23 November welcomed Liz Rushall to communicate the findings of the Futures project. (Watch the recording here.) Two further webinars are set for January: "Building an online presence" on Tuesday 11 Jan, and "Volunteering" on Tuesday 25 Jan.

Supporting Coaching

• Delivery Partner scheme – We launched a new Delivery Partner Scheme in Wales to help providers to further promote their offering. We currently have over 20 Delivery Partners signed up to the scheme, offering a range of benefits which you can see here.
• New Leadership awards – We launched the new Leadership Awards and integrated those into the club and provider network to further support what they do.
• Safety Review – We supported our colleagues in British Canoeing with a detailed review of safety awareness and education through the Qualification and Awards structure.
  

Supporting Access and the Environment

• Accessible pontoons – We successfully attained a £106k Welsh Government grant to install 5 accessible pontoons and washdown stations around Wales. Three have been installed so far with another 2 in the process of being installed.
• Increased access – We have negotiated the opening up of access to the Swiss Valley Reservoir for Canoe Wales members. (Read the news here.) We have been also working hard to reopen access on the Wye at Glasbury and are hopeful for this to be rectified by Spring 2022.
• Access agreement – We have been continuing to work towards a national access agreement, developing relationships with key stakeholders such as Welsh Government, Natural Resources Wales, Dwr Cymru, the Angling Trust and Rivers Trust.

Supporting Performance

• New structure – Following a review in early 2021, we’ve launched a new Slalom programme structure with three levels: Regional Development, Talent and Performance. The new structure and increased support at the base is already showing great promise for the future, with over 50% of J12 Division league results being Welsh paddlers.
• Increasing accessibility – Our programme now has an open application process with more activity being run regionally, meaning it’s more accessible to more people in Wales. We’ve developed five new Slalom training sites in North Wales and new Sprint programmes in the North and the South too.

As we head towards another busy 2022, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our members, volunteers, clubs and providers for their continued support and dedication, and wish you a very happy Christmas.

Please note that our office will be closed from midday Wednesday 22 December, and will reopen on Tuesday 4 January at 10am. Please email any urgent enquiries to admin@canoewales.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Best wishes and happy holidays from all at Canoe Wales!