Dear Club Member
I am pleased to update you as follows on Club matters.
Temporary Site
By now many of you will have rowed from our temporary facilities at Hardwick. The key remaining item to complete is the pontoon, and the Committee has decided that we should build our own rather than commission one from a third party. The cost difference is significant – £1500 rather than five or six times this amount – and we should end up with something similar to what we regularly use at the Regatta.
The Committee would welcome your feedback and opinion on this and any other aspect of the new site. As I have indicated previously, we have tried to find a balance between providing adequate facilities and conserving funds for our permanent home. We cannot undo what has been done, but if members feel we could and should improve the current site in any way, the Committee would be pleased to consider your suggestions.
Permanent Site
The focus of the Committee will now turn to finding a permanent home for the Club. A key step towards this is the establishment of a Permanent Site Sub-Committee of five or six individuals who will drive forward the securing and development of a suitable site. We feel that this Sub-Committee should be made up from the Club as a whole, not just members of the main Committee. In particular, we would like to harness any experience or expertise amongst us that will be relevant to building a new boathouse. This would include planning, building design, surveying, construction, and finance.
If you possess relevant skills, or simply want to play a leading role in the process of developing our new home, please do consider volunteering to join the Sub-Committee and contact me by return.
Rowing
Club Sessions are run every Thursday at 6pm and Sunday at 10am. In addition, we will be rowing at 9am on the following Saturdays – the 5th and 19th of May and the 2nd June (subsequent Saturdays leading up to the Regatta will be dedicated to training crews) . Further to my previous request, I have had two volunteers to be trained as Session Managers. My thanks to them – we rely on such volunteers to operate at all as a Club. If there is anyone else willing to step forward, please do not hesitate to contact me by return.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SUNDAY APRIL 29th THE ROAD WILL BE CLOSED TO TRAFFIC JUST NORTH OF WHITCHURCH BRIDGE. THOSE OF YOU TRAVELLING FROM SOUTH OF THE RIVER WILL NEED TO USE AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE.
Jubilee Pageant
Many of you are keen to take part in this event, and we will be rowing a ladies octuple, a mixed eight, and a single scull up to Goring for the Pageant.
If you available on the morning of June 4th, but not currently taking part, perhaps you would consider helping out as a Marshall. This will involve supervising those watching from the river bank and assisting the boats if necessary. Please let me know if you can help.
Regatta
Planning for the Regatta is well underway. Entries for crews will open at the beginning of May, so why not gather some friends or fellow members and take part?
Training for crews will start in mid-June. Based on personal experience, I know that assisting in these sessions is great fun and a fantastic way to improve your coxing skills. We will need as many of you as possible to get involved, either co-ordinating the crews as they arrive or encouraging them from the cox’s seat. If anyone would like to train up as a cox, or polish off their coxing skills, in advance of Regatta crew training, please let me know and we will arrange some relevant training sessions.
Leukaemia Research Charity event
Many thanks to the Geoff, Alastair, Heather and Peter for rowing a quad up to Goring for use by the charity crew – and to Dorothy for very kindly collecting them and driving them back to the boathouse. The organisers were very appreciative of our support, and I understand that their event went smoothly.
Membership renewal
By now you will all have received your invitation to renew your membership. I hope that you will choose to do so. Please take a minute to complete and return the form to Sue over the next few days. Alternatively, if you wish to save yourself a stamp, Sue will be at the Club Sessions on 29th April and 13th May and would be happy to collect your renewal in person.
With best regards
Hugh