Northampton Rowing Club - Great Ouse Marathon

Aim

We are looking to fund a new competitive single sculling boat to allow our athletes to attend GB pathways and compete on a National level.

Who are we?

We are 8 members of the Junior section of Northampton Rowing Club. We are 7 GB aspirational athletes along with one dedicated coach. 

On Sunday 6th September we will be taking part in a Marathon event to raise funds for the club that we are all so proud to represent. We are taking on a 22km challenge endurance row called the Great Ouse Marathon. Our usual races are distances of 1km or possibly a maximum of 2km so 22km is a bit of an unknown test. Some of us are simply aiming to finish but others have their eye on a new course record. For context, and depending on the conditions, we could be racing constantly anywhere up to 2.5 hours. Representing us we have Henry, Will, Mae, Nik, Fraser, Libby, Poppy and Mark one of our coaches keen on testing himself! This is no easy challenge for any of us.

Northampton Rowing Club has roughly 100 members aged 13 - 70 plus. We have men's, women's and junior squads, and we offer opportunities for recreational rowing. We host a major head race each January drawing competitors from far and wide. Our junior squad takes children from Northampton and the surrounding area from the age of 13.

As a Community Amateur Sports Club we strive to make rowing accessible to all, to do this we need a variety of boats to help get people out on the water whatever their aims and ambitions.

Why are we crowdfunding?

Within the squads we have athletes aspiring to, and capable, of National Level Competitions and National Representation. We also have juniors who have aspirations to become future Olympians. These juniors have been greatly inspired by the fact that two current Olympic Gold Medallists sat in their first boats at Northampton Rowing Club.

Whilst we have added to our fleet in recent years with new doubles and light weight junior singles we now need to look to fund a performance single boat. This will allow GB pathway juniors to attend and compete at National Level trials as well as enable other squads members to compete at National level competitions.

Our dedicated athletes and volunteer coaches pour their hearts into making every practise session count; we have the athletes, the coaches, the training plan and the ambition, we just need the equipment to give everyone their best opportunity.

In the last couple of years, some of our juniors have achieved great success. We have had junior representation with Great Britain at The Coupe De La Jeunesse, winners of Henley Womens Regatta and also a winner of Henley Royal Regatta. The juniors following in these footsteps are inspired and ready to now make their mark on the British Rowing scene. Without a club-suitable performance boat they are unable to do so. 

To keep this incredible momentum and to provide more opportunities for more young people who believe rowing is inaccessible to them please help us invest in a new boat. 

How we’ll spend the money raised

The money raised will be used to contribute towards a new performance single sculling boat. A new boat can be anywhere from £8,000 upwards but we are setting our goal at £5,000 and will aim to get best value for money by sourcing one lightly used.  

Community impact

Support us and you are not just buying boats but you are fuelling National and Olympic dreams and empowering the next generation. 

Your donation will help our club to compete at the highest levels and inspire our entire community

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!

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 11th October 2026 at 12:00am