About the Club
BSCC was founded in 1972 and has a flourishing membership of all ages and abilities. Our membership includes an equal balance of adults and juniors. The club is funded principally by membership subscriptions and grass-roots fundraising. It is run entirely by the voluntary effort of its members, and there are many opportunities for non-paddling parents of junior members to become involved.
The club is run by an elected committee (see committee list and contact details) and coaching is provided by our small team of volunteer coaches. (see list of coaches and assistants).
The club has a clubhouse about one mile south of Bishop's Stortford, next to Southmill Lock, with changing rooms, toilets and hot showers. We have a range of boats available at the club for members' use and a limited amount of storage for members' own boats. The building of a new boathouse (opened in 2013) also released space for a gym area.
Our activity is strongly focussed on placid water sprint and marathon racing in kayaks and Canadian canoes. The club participates in the Eastern Region Hasler Marathons and was joint Regional Champion in 2018. Since 2011 BSCC has organised one of the annual Hasler Marathons (initially at Huntingdon on the Great Ouse, but from 2016 on the Stort from our own base). The club is a founder member of the Flatwater Racing Association and hosts one of the FRA's annual Winter Series marathons and a local regatta. Some members attend the Sprint Regatta weekends at Nottingham.
Competition and training takes place throughout the year. The main session is on Sunday mornings (all abilities) and on weekday evenings for more serious training.
Our activity is strongly focussed on placid water sprint and marathon racing in kayaks and Canadian canoes. The club participates in the Eastern Region Hasler Marathons and was joint Regional Champion in 2018. Since 2011 BSCC has organised one of the annual Hasler Marathons (initially at Huntingdon on the Great Ouse, but from 2016 on the Stort from our own base). The club is a founder member of the Flatwater Racing Association and hosts one of the FRA's annual Winter Series marathons and a local regatta. Some members attend the Sprint Regatta weekends at Nottingham.
Competition and training takes place throughout the year. The main session is on Sunday mornings (all abilities) and on weekday evenings for more serious training.
BSCC is affiliated to British Canoeing (the national governing body for paddlesport), who have accredited us under the Clubmark scheme as a high-quality child-friendly sports club. In 2011 we became only the 7th club in the country to be recognised as a "TopClub Gold". In 2015 BSCC was awarded Paddle-Ability TopClub status - the scheme to recognise canoe clubs offering an inclusive programme of activity for disabled people.
These schemes have now ended and the club is now working towards British Canoeing's "Quality Club" accreditation which has replaced them.
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Grants & Sponsors
Over the years BSCC has been fortunate to receive grants of various sizes towards different projects, including:
Over the years BSCC has been fortunate to receive grants of various sizes towards different projects, including:
- 2019 - Sport England Lottery Grant of £9640 - equipment and funding for coach education to support our novice recruitment programme
- 2019 - East Herts Council £4390 - equipment to support our novice recruitment programme
- 2015 - Herts County Council Locality Budget Scheme - various equipment items, including junior buoyancy aids, paddles, and a boat
- 2015 - Bishops Stortford Community Hospital Charitable Trust - a defibrillator
- 2014 - Stansted Airport Community Trust - purchase of two K2s
- 2012 - Construction of the boathouse was funded by SportEngland through a CanoeEngland Capital Grant, Viridor Credits Environmental Company's Landfill Communities Fund, and East Herts Council's Partnership Investment Fund (read more about the boathouse here). The boat racking was manufactured and supported by Evergreen
- 2011 - Active East Herts Capital Grant - renovation of the shower facilities
- 2010 - Herts County Council Locality Budget Scheme - training several new coaches
- 2008 - Stansted Airport Community Trust - purchase of several junior boats (Lightnings & Hody)
- 2007 - National Lottery Awards for All scheme - £10K grant to revitalise our boat fleet