100% of Northumberland Canoe Clubs sign up Accreditation Scheme

Northumberland Sport would like to congratulate the following clubs in Northumberland that have recently gained Clubmark Accreditation;

· Morpeth Paddlesport Club

· Wansbeck Paddlesport Club

These 2 very new clubs join the ranks of the following that are also Clubmark accredited; Coquet, Hexham and Tyne Valley Canoe Club. Blyth Kayak Club have also recently seen the benefits and have signed up to ‘Work Towards’ accreditation. Morpeth Paddlesport Club started only one year ago and Wansbeck club have only been operating for just over 2 years therefore this achievement is a great success story.

This brings the total of accredited Canoe England clubs up to 70. Clubmark is the minimum standards expected of a sports club working with young people and is part of the Canoe England Top Club accreditation scheme. Clubs also benefit from recognition by Sports bodies, schools and parents, higher profile and support from the Paddlesport Development Officer/ Local and Regional Club coaches.

The clubs are steadily building up a core of coaches at UKCC Level 1 and 2 to ensure members get high quality coaching. The training and assessment of the UK Coaching Certificates offer thorough and in depth training but this comes with a cost and also requires more time to complete. The Coach Grant Award Scheme offered by Northumberland Sport has allowed many of these volunteers to gain qualifications. In return the coaches have been involved in Sport Unlimited and School Club Links programmes aimed at attracting young people into Paddlesport as an after school programme with the offer of following this up through the local club.

Work will now start on building a new club building to increase storage capacity along with new changing facilities for Hexham Canoe Club in August. This building project has been awarded to the club from Tynedale Council and Sport England through the Community Investment Fund (CIF). One of the underpinning factors that secured this award was that the club is Clubmark accredited.

Ray Hudspith Paddlesport Development Officer for Canoe England who has been working closely with Northumberland Sport said:

“The Workforce Development, Coach GrantAward Scheme have been well received by the clubs based in Northumberland that are part of British Canoe Union North East Region. Coaches are the heartbeat of any club. Having more coaches delivering to groups has resulted in healthier clubs with greater capacity to increase membership”.

Tom Thomas , from Wansbeck Paddle Sport Club added:

“The Workforce Development Funding has enabled 3 young people to gain Level 2 BCU UKCC qualifications. This has had a major influence enabling the club to move forward to gain Club Mark accreditation. Workforce Development has been the best way to get money through to grassroots and in return for the contribution the young people are volunteering at the club on a regular basis which positively effects the operations of our club.”

For more information about Paddlesport and how to get involved, please visit our canoeing pages.