• Clubmark
• Club House Extension

Clubmark

April 2010 - We have now gained 'Clubmark' accreditation for the club, which has been one of the key activities being undertaken by the committee with invaluable support from Gill Hamlett. Club Mark is important to us for  a number of reasons:

• Shows that the club is well organised and well run to attract new members.
• Provides policies that reassure parents that we will care for young members appropriately.
• Allows us to apply for grants more effectively.

From the Clubmark site:

"Clubmark is the only national cross sports quality accreditation scheme for clubs with junior sections. It is built around a set of core criteria which ensure that accredited clubs operate to a set of consistent, accepted and adopted minimum operating standards.

Sport England recognises and values the commitment made by sports clubs to develop high quality, welcoming environments for young participants. The development of clubs that encourage young people to take-up sport, improve their talents and give them the option to initiate and maintain life-long participation in sport is an essential part of our work to support the sporting infrastructure in England."

Gill has compiled and revised where necessary all the club's policies, processes  and certificates into a folder to be held in the club house. The key items included are shown in the pane to the right.

Club House Extension

With nearly a hundred members, the clubhouse's facilities are being stretched, with the social area and the changing rooms being too crowded. To allow the club to flourish and all the activities and courses to continue, the committee is currently in the process of adding an extension to the clubhouse, approximately doubling its size.

Note that this is a long-term project and maybe months or years before we can clear all the hurdles and obtain sufficient funds to complete this work.

John Martell, Phil Rowsell and Chris Cullen are the mainstays of this process with design drawings and gaining general agreement from the Yacht Club. There are at least two phases of work:

Phase 1 is underway - To create a new kayak store next to the open canoe store and move the existing canoe store backwards. Autumn 2011 has seen the new base laid and steel framework erected and clad. Phase 1 has been funded by some donations, fundraising and club funds accumulated from courses we run.

Phase 2 is awaiting funding - To covert the existing clubhouse and old kayak store into better changing facilities and larger social room. The clubhouse would become a larger social room and a clothing store (for the cags, trousers, buoyancy aids & helmets), whilst the refurbished store would contain four separate changing rooms for male/female youths and male/female adults. The costs of this phase are significantly higher and we have been applying for external grants - so this may be some way off yet.

Discussing the options and issues with club members is very important to us and you are encouraged to look at the speculative ideas - they will be pinned to the club notice board. Please let members of the committee have any ideas or comments on the proposals. We may also be looking for volunteers to help bring the plans to fruition in the future...