A welcome oar-deal!
The Renegades Youth Club has discovered that we can have our kayak and eat it too!
The fantastic news is that the Postcode Society Trust have given the club a whopping nearly £20K grant to get canoeing up and running. The much-appreciated money has bought nine Enigma Turing 16 canoes (in the Renegades’ colours of red and purple of course!), paddles, vests and a trailer to transport them plus will pay for the tuition for the club’s Leaders and parents to become qualified instructors.
“It’s been a long-cherished dream, so we are over the moon that it’s finally being realised,” says Group Leader Gareth Miller. “I was introduced to the idea of getting canoes for the children by a lovely chap who was a fellow Scout leader, and he made me realise that they offer a number of different benefits.
“In addition to fitness, the children will learn teamwork and partnership, communication and confidence skills as well as water safety and technical paddling. They will also benefit from softer learning - being quietly closer to nature and getting a completely different view on the world from the water.
“As with the archery we also offer, canoeing has a strong history that we can teach the kids. It is thought that canoes, or dugouts, have been used for the last nine thousand years across the world for transport, fishing and even guerrilla warfare. Also, the fact that we have bought the Enigma Turing canoes means that we can also remind them about the fantastic wartime work and tragic life of Alan Turing,” says Gareth.
As the canoes are two seaters but have extra room means that the Renegades will be able to set sail as a fleet carrying camping equipment and food and go off exploring local rivers and canals. So we owe a huge thank you to Damian, to a generous local lady who donated £100, to the Postcode Society and - through them - to everyone who has played the Postcode Lottery as 33% of the ticket price goes to good causes – in this case, us!