New junior oars, junior life jackets and T-shirts

Aim

To purchase light weight oars and self inflating life jackets suitable for juniors, as the number of juniors we have is increasing rapidly.

We are a friendly Cornish Pilot Gig Club based in the Tamar Valley in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We train on the River Tamar and regularly race from various locations in the South West. Every year we send several teams to the World Pilot Gig Championships held on the Isles of Scilly.

We are raising funds to purchase new light weight oars suitable for use with our rapidly increasing number of junior members, as they struggle to row with the heavier oars used by our competitive adult rowers. We also need more self inflating lifejackets as the juniors all must train and compete wearing a life jacket. Some of our juniors have not been able to afford club T-shirts, which they need to wear at competitions. We have been lucky to have been offered an award from Sport England towards the cost of these items, and it is conditional on our club raising the same amount or more on crowdfunder.co.uk.

A set of new oars cost £3,120 in 2024, so we anticipate a new set will cost at least as much, and we need 2 new sets, as we only have 1 set of oars light enough for the juniors to use, and we sometimes have 3 junior crews training on the river at the same time. Each new self inflating life jacket costs £61.19 and we need to buy at least another 12. Each club T-shirt costs £22.50 and we need to buy 20 or more in different sizes for our juniors to wear to competitions. We have been raising funds for these items for a few months, and we still need a total of at least £6,307 to purchase the oars, life jackets and tops.

We recently held our first ever Junior Regatta and it was a great success. These events bring young people together in an outdoor environment where they can enjoy the sport of gig racing. Each crew was composed of junior rowers from 3 different clubs and this encourages them to be more confident when racing in the same boat with rowers from other clubs. We provided the boats and oars as this makes it easier and more workable for the junior rowers from various clubs to attend the regatta. We would prefer to have at least 3 sets of lightweight oars for use at our next junior regatta, which we plan to host at least once a year. It would be useful to have a few spare life jackets in case some attendees forget to bring theirs, and we would like every member of our club to have a club T-shirt to wear at this and other events, as it gives them a sense of belonging, and to feel valued and included within our club. 

We believe that having the right equipment i.e. light weight oars and club tops, will enable our juniors to progress quickly. This will encourage them to persist in training to become competitive rowers and to have a real pride in the sport, their fitness and their club. Our experience tells us that working in a team helps young people to feel connected with others, reduces loneliness and isolation, and encourages good mental and physical health. At Cotehele Quay rowers can enjoy being active outdoors in beautiful natural surroundings as they train on the River Tamar, and we hope that this will encourage young people to continue to be physically active in their lives, and to enjoy the outdoors.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made