| This year's "Come and Try Canoeing" on the Stort in the town centre attracted even more youngsters than last year's successful event. At least 160 were given the chance to have fun on the river in stable PolyPippin kayaks or (for the younger ones) in open canoes escorted by our coaches. The event is an annual fundraiser for Grove Cottage (home of Bishop's Stortford Mencap), and the great response enabled us to raise a total of over £850 for the charity this year. |  |
 | Grove Cottage runs a range of clubs which provide social and educational activities for people of all ages with learning disability. Over 120 members benefit each week from the experiences Grove Cottage can offer, developing potential, avoiding social isolation and bringing respite to families and carers. |
| The queue for tickets began to form over an hour before the advertised start time and all the available places had been booked long before it drew to a close. The majority of the participants were aged 8-14, but at least 30 adults took the opportunity to have a go as well. Our dedicated coaches (Malcolm, Jacque, Dave, Ken, Wayne and Gary) worked non-stop all afternoon in the August sunshine, ably assisted from the bank by committee members Andrew and Angela, plus one of the club's youngest paddlers, Ryewin. Special thanks are due to club juniors Kaitie and Julius who patiently kitted everyone up and kept the queue in order throughout the event, and also to Matt, John, and Kaitie who helped the six coaches tow all the boats from the clubhouse into town, and then back again afterwards. |  |
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 | If you took part and are interested in finding more about canoeing by attending a longer taster at the club on a Sunday, or if you missed this session but think canoeing might be for you, have a look around the rest of our website to find out what we do. If you like what you see, go to the JOIN US page to find out how you can book a trial session at the club on a Sunday. |
