About Us
Putney Town Rowing Club lives in a big blue building on the edges of the tidal Thames, next to Chiswick Bridge in Mortlake. The name comes from having started life under a pub in Putney in 1922!
The mission of the club is to provide facilities for, and encourage participation in, the sport of rowing.
Our boathouse is a 2.5 story building, with 3 boat bays on the ground floor, a large central hall, changing rooms and bar on the first floor, and a loft space above the bar which is a training space. To the side is a gated compound which houses the remainder of our fleet.
In 2022 we broke ground on phase one of our development and as a result of generous support from our members, now have a beautiful balcony area which is used as both a training and socialising space. We also have two new store rooms as well as the all important ground floor accessible toilets.
Why are we crowdfunding?
The club actively welcomes and encourages visitors and members from all parts of the community.
At present we have some challenges with our environment. The compound area has a large central space which is uneven and covered in heavy gravel making it difficult to access the building.
The main clubhouse facilities are on the first floor and are only reachable by stairs.
We want to install a stable ground surfacing in our compound area which will allow safe access for members, event guests and the local community who visit the club. The compound area could also double up as extra outdoor space for athletes to train.
The resurfacing will enable the use of the new accessible toilets which we have built on the ground floor.
A lift will provide access to/from the first floor for those who need it.
How we’ll spend the money raised
The total amounts of the accessibility works (compound surfacing and lift) has been costed at £70,000.
We have been fortunate enough to receive a £15,000 grant from the Sport England 'Movement Fund' towards this project.
Members of the club have partly raised funds to match this grant through donations and fundraising activities including a Winter Fayre and a Taylor Swift night.
We are nearly half way there and are keen to get started as soon as the money comes in. Supporters, friends and members should expect to see changes starting soon and we invite you to join us in making this project a reality!
Community impact
Being outside in nature has enormous mental health benefits and the impact of movement as well as connection to community is essential for good physical health and wellbeing, longevity and contentment.
We would like to invite a wide range of people with differing abilities and accessibility needs to use our facilities for training, social events and/or hires. With these proposed changes, we would be able to run some smaller activities and events if the situation arises. One example is an indoor rowing event for an adaptive audience.
The newly surfaced outdoor area will allow the gym to spill out into it and training to take place on a suitable surface. We will have more “usable” club for our members.
A smooth and even surface will improve accessibility to the downstairs toilets and along with the lift will open up access to the training and socialising spaces on the first floor.
The surface will also allow water to percolate through and reduce the pressure on the drainage systems and surrounding environment.
How you can play your part
1. Become a patron and make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!
2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
3. Workplace involvement Ask your workplace if they offer any matched funding to projects your are passionate about or if they have any rewards or prizes we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!
4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea