How you can help
We're a local canoe club with paddlers from across the south coast + further afield. Many paddlers have achieved international success, including a silver in the Paris Paralympic Games!
We want to provide more people with access to our sport and are passionate about growing our community. We are especially focussed on supporting access to outrigger canoeing for para-canoe paddlers, the young and those that are less able. To do this we need more suitable equipment and this is where YOU CAN HELP!
Your support will make this possible - enabling us to widen our community of paddlers through the additional equipment and of course by raising awareness of our club and the opportunities we provide.
Sport England will support us with £7,500 if we raise matching funds from the community!
Your generous donations will not only help the community but you will have the chance to win one of many fantastic prizes which include an outrigger paddle, dry robe, dinner for 2 with more being donated during the fund raising period!
Read on for more...
Who are we?
Established in 2014, Bournemouth Outrigger Canoe Club is a community of paddlers passionate about passing on the traditions of outrigger canoeing. We are affiliated to PaddleUK. Our club has an open and inclusive ethos, current membership represents the LGBTQ+ community, those paddling to manage mental health, and paddlers with disability. Our community is a family, we support each other to enjoy outrigger canoeing in all its forms. We have competitive members who enjoy racing and competing at all levels, several of our members have represented Great Britain in Outrigging, Va'a, Rowing and Dragon Boat Racing. One member just secured a Va’a Paralympic silver medal in Paris. In addition, we have members who paddle for blue therapy, enjoying the peace and tranquility of our beautiful Dorset coastline from our base at Hengistbury Head, Christchurch. For those who prefer individual experiences we have one person canoes (OC1 & Va’a) in addition to an OC2 and team canoes (OC6). Beyond paddling, we support each other and have built strong relationships.
We are one of only a few coastal outrigger canoe clubs; this, in addition to our experience and success, attracts new and experienced paddlers from all over the world to develop and grow as paddlers. Our membership extends beyond Dorset, with over 30 active members across the UK, supported through our successful reduced price away membership scheme. We want to build momentum and have strong support through our club volunteers so now is the right time to push for expansion and to invest in our broader community.
Why are we crowdfunding?
We wish to build a more inclusive and diverse paddling community. Outrigger canoeing's rich heritage and values of inclusivity, support, teamwork and care for the environment make it an ideal sport to attract participation from the wider community.
The pandemic caused club activities to cease and membership to fall, we have now seen membership start to recover but have significant challenges in diversifying our membership due to aging and heavy equipment that is not suited to smaller, lighter, new or novice paddlers and those with disability.
We would like more people to access the physical and mental health benefits of outrigger canoeing and for our membership to better reflect our diverse communities. We wish to see an increase in the number of non-white, female, young and disabled paddlers as well as improvements in accessibility to the water for our current membership.
We need fit for purpose equipment to motivate members and enable full participation in this sport that can span generations. Our current equipment is aging and is not fit for purpose, we have a 6 person canoe, a two person canoe and two single canoes.
Club members' average age is >50 and some find the existing equipment to be cumbersome due to the weight. Our disabled paddlers find the canoes challenging as leg-amputees struggle without an in-built footrest for their prosthesis to rest against. In addition, our female paddlers find it difficult to independently transport and are less competitive in racing our current heavy canoes.
Funding for an additional fit for purpose canoe will support our growth in the key areas of increasing access to sport and active lifestyles across a broad range of people including many that have challenges with access and who would benefit from the strong community associated with team sports.
By making the paddling experience safer and more enjoyable we will directly impact the continued participation of our members. Experience to date has shown that use of older, heavier equipment is a detriment to participation. We will also build a youth section creating opportunities for young people to access the water, learn new skills, compete and join a supportive community.
Para-paddlers will feel safer as their stability will be increased through a canoe with in-built footrests and an automatic bailing system that removes water from the canoe - this can be a challenge for physically impaired paddlers due to mobility challenges when in a seated position.
We aim to build a strong and competitive women’s section. Access to a lighter canoe means improved independence and the ability to train in different ocean conditions. This will ensure the team are competitive and can take part in regional and national events and work towards selection for the Great Britain team.
We're passionate about outrigger canoeing and believe in its potential to provide mental and physical health benefits for everybody through exercise and the participation in a sport with a strong community in a beautiful natural environment.
How we’ll spend the money raised
We wish to purchase an additional lighter and more modern canoe with improved safety features will increase the capacity of the club to accommodate additional members and will mean we can more effectively support the needs of the the groups we are targeting through this project that could benefit from the physical and mental health benefits of participation in an outdoors team sport.
We purposefully keep our membership fees low to ensure access to all, those who can not afford the fees can talk to us in confidence and the club committee has the discretion to lower or waive them. As a result we do not have the funds to buy this canoe without support.
An application to Sport England was successful to partially fund the canoe if we can find match funding. We hope that this crowdfunder will enable us to raise enough funds to secure the grant.
Community impact
People from diverse backgrounds will see that outrigger canoeing is for everybody. Having more canoes will enable us to take more people on the water.
Paddlers who join our club develop skills both in terms of canoeing but also in relation to understanding the coastal waters which provides increased confidence in this environment. Our club is supportive of new members and have many examples of paddlers being supported through the initial learning stages to being competent captains of a canoe and having the skills to safely guide a crew through challenging water conditions.
Through our connection with the natural environment a respect for the sea and the environment is developed and this is demonstrated through club volunteering for rubbish collections in the local coastal area. These activities help further with the overall spirit of the club and support long term membership and participation.
How you can play your part
There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.
1. 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. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things 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!