2011 06 newsletter

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Volume 35 Issue 6 ~ June 2011

Newsletter F

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Frome Canoe Club is affiliated to the British Canoe Union and is a Registered Charity (Number 1104728)

FROME TRIP

Weir accomplished and no swims! P 10 has the full report.

Langham Farm Slalom 4/5th June Get involved!

Have you thought about competing? Or perhaps you could help? See P 4 for how to get involved.

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FCC ‘THROWLINE ’ CLUB MAGAZINE

Send articles for the next issue to [email protected] by 27th June

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President

Graham Warnecke

Vice Presidents

Richard and Jane Arney

Jim and Catharine Croft

Chairman

Andy Bell

Vice Chairman

Rich Carter

Treasurer

John Kent

Secretary

Pam Dixon

16 Blagdon Walk, Frome, BA11 2YH

Committee Members

Debbie Ashdown

Howard Charlesworth

Sam Charlesworth

Mandy James

Alun Jones

Gareth McGiveron

Karl Waldeck

Sara Withall

Jack Smiles (Youth voice)

Kit Officer

Tim Smiles

In this issue

3 Calendar in brief

5 Open Canoe Tour

5 River Avon (12th June)

6 River Avon (3rd July)

6 Fun day at Bradford on Avon

8 Wednesday Club Sessions

8 Friday Club Sessions

10 River Frome trip

4 Langham Farm Slalom

9 Report: Andrew’s Div 2 slalom

12 What we are doing?

13 Recent results

13 People who can help you

14 The first Fun Slalom of the summer

15 A new initiative - coaching

20 The Scotland 2012: first showing

16 Copper noseclip points

CALENDAR

REPORTS

SLALOM MATTERS

SPECIALS

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Calendar 2011

Date Event Standard Contact

June

4/5 LANGHAM FARM SLALOM All Andy B

4 Open canoe race before prizes All Andy B

9-12 Open canoe tour - River Wye Open boaters Howard C

12 2 Star journey, open to others Passport or 1 Star Arthur B

13 DVD: Scotland 2011 All Alex

17 Fun mini slalom at Langham F All John K

18 FSRT (Canoe Safety) Course 2 Star Rich C

19 Aquatic First Aid Course All Pam D

25/26 Biblins weekend All Pam D

July

3 River Avon Passport or 1 Star John K


9-10 One star Course Participants Pam D

17 MARKET YARD SLALOM All John K

24 Bradford On Avon Fun day All Pam D

31 CIWW 2 Star plus, plus Andy B

August


7 BBQ and Cardboard Challenge All Pam D


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Calendar in detail - Langham Farm Slalom


GET INVOLVED!

Come and compete! This is a good slalom for beginners. It is a race along a course marked out by slalom poles - ‘gates’. You have to go through the gates in the right order and right direction, trying not to hit the poles and all this against the clock. It is good fun. You have two runs and your best time is taken. Cost to enter varies, but for one day, beginners (Div 4) can expect to pay £4.50, youth and £6.50 adults. Parking is £2. Get there about 9am to fill up an entry card and then get a little bit of practice before the racing starts. If it’s your first time ask John or Rich.

Come and help! We need help all over the weekend.

Help to manage the event: judging, safety, runners, Start and Finish and so on.

Then there is the help needed to manage the site: Parking, site safety, toilets...

And of course there is the Cook tent. Pam needs help from 8am till 5pm both days. And if you can’t help over the weekend, then donations of cakes are always welcome.

FINALLY there is the ‘take-down’. Everyone is tired by now on Sunday and we need many hands to take everything down and pack it all away . You can come (3.30 onwards) to help at this point even if you have not been able to partici-pate in the event!

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Calendar in detail - trips


Open Canoe Tour: 10th - 12th June

A relaxing meander through the beautiful countryside, camping in the wilderness

This is a self supported trip from Hereford to Lydbrook in open boats The trip will take three days paddling and three nights camping. We start on Thursday 9th June evening with the drive up to Hereford have a hearty meal and camp. Paddle on Friday to Hoarwithy and camp, then Saturday paddle down to Ross on Wye and camp. Then on to Lydbrook on the Sunday, shuttle and home.

All three days paddling are gentle 4 – 5 hour paddles. The camp sites are family friendly and close to pleasant hostelries with a fine selection of ales, wines and vitals.

Please contact Howard for more informa-tion:

[email protected]

River Avon 12th June Meet at the Clubhouse, 8am for 2 Star course candidates

9am for other paddlers Cost £3 Organiser - Arthur

This is an important trip for paddlers who are attending the Two Star course as it is their assessed journey. It is the part of the Two Star syllabus that requires them to organise a trip and help manage a group of fellow paddlers on the water. Others are welcome on this trip but will need to be prepared for our aspirant Two Star paddlers to ‘take command’. The emphasis will be on having a fun day like we always do, so do come along.

We plan to paddle from Bath to Salt-ford, a great stretch of the Avon with a couple of weirs and a small play spot at the get out which is by the Jolly Sailor pub.

The two meet times are: 8am for those on the Two Star course (and instructors) so they can prepare for the rest of the paddling mob which needs to be at Market Yard by 9am. We would expect to be back at Mar-ket Yard by 4.30pm at the latest.

Hope to see you there.

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River Avon 3th July Meet at the Clubhouse, 9am Cost £3 Organiser - John

The monthly local trips are catch-ing on. Be sure to come to the next one, if you can.

We will be doing the River Avon, from Bath to Saltford. This is mostly a flat river with a couple of gentle rapids and a weir at the end to play on.

We meet at the Clubhouse, get changed. Then we jump into cars to drive to the get-on.

This is good for paddlers with Pass-port or One Star (and above).

You need to bring food and drink, and depending on the weather on the day, you may or may not need warm clothes!

Bradford on Avon - a fun trip 24th July Meet at the Clubhouse, 9.30am Cost £3 Organiser - Pam

Everyone is welcome to join this trip even if you haven’t got Passport or One Star. If you can paddle in a straight line you will be fine. If you can’t paddle in a straight line, think about paddling an open boat with someone who can!

This is an easy paddle with fun and games thrown in. So a good trip for beginners, and the not-so-beginners in the club are also welcome!

We drive to the car park by the station in Bradford on Avon and we get on there. We paddle downstream to the weir and shoot that, water lev-els permitting and then we paddle back to have lunch. After lunch we set off upstream for the other weir and we mess about on that.

We also try to fit in some sinking games: who can sink the instructors before they sink us?! And so on.

Notice the later than normal start - 9.30 at the Clubhouse.

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Manoeuvre of the month

Danny, our number one star paddler got his hair wet just recently, at the

white-water course in Cardiff. From lots of splashing, I hear you ask?

Oh No! He went for a little swim. Says Becki who was right next to him

when it happened “Danny was always a kind of paddling icon. He intro-

duced me to white water at a Tiverton weekend. I couldn’t believe it when

he swam.’ Becki’s husband, Bill, reports that it has had a huge psycho-

logical effect on her and she is currently looking for a good therapist.

Ed: I think the real manoeuvre has got to be the taking a stab at the course with no paddles. Anyone else tried that?

Cardiff: CIWW 31st July Organiser: Andy Bell Meet 8am at the Clubhouse Costs £13 transport £10 entry fee adult £5 entry for U16 Ideally you should be able to roll, and should be comfortable on fast moving water. The eddy lines are sharp and catch even the most competent paddlers out. But if you don’t mind swimming .... More information in next month’s newsletter. OR email Andy if you need more information or want answers to questions: [email protected]

7th August

IS THIS DATE IN YOUR DIARY?

BBQ

and

2011 CARDBOARD CHALLENGE

More in next month’s issue.

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Club sessions


FRIDAY SESSIONS At Langham Farm 7pm - 9pm Cost £2

These sessions are for adults. Young people can come if their parents bring them and stay to paddle or watch.

People usually ‘do their own thing’, either slalom training, or a gentle paddle up and down stream in a kayak or open boat.

Most people bring their own kit but we do have a limited stock of club kit there if you don’t have your own.

Please do not speed along the lane which leads to Langham Farm. See P19 for more about this.

WEDNESDAY SESSIONS At Market Yard 7pm - 9pm Cost £2

Sessions are in full swing now.

You need to decide what you’re doing out of our vast selection of activities and go for it!

Courses / Training / Fun and games/Open boating / Adults only..

Young people in the first hour, older people in the second hour. NEW this year: Adults get to use the slalom equipment and poles once a month in the Wednesday sessions: June 8th July 13th August 10th

This will affect the second slalom training session in these weeks. We suggest that the adults come early and train in the first hour.

And one more thing to be aware of: the open boats are to be allocated to the Passport groups on 8th June and 15thJune. Don’t forget we have Sit on Tops at the Market Yard and these can be used on Wednesday sessions.

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Reports - A Division 1/2 Slalom by Andrew Lyall


I had wanted to attend Holme Pierre-pont (HPP) slalom since I started slalom canoeing again in 2008. The artificial slalom course at HPP has a reputation for offering significantly larger water than many of the other events. Over the last year I had at-tended CIWW on six occasions and had managed to gain some under-standing of the faster flow of the white water and was therefore hope-ful that I would be able to handle things. Unlike CIWW the water is not pumped but drawn from the River Trent which runs parallel to the course. On the 14th May there were 2 slalom events being held at HPP: 1/2 on the main course and a 3/4 event below on the Daleks. The main course is 300 yards long (50 yards longer than Cardington) with 19 gates to be ne-gotiated with the added excitement of fast moving water and several large drops. It became clear it would be easy to miss a gate and be awarded a 50 second penalty. When I got to the course at 9am it was sunny with a brisk wind blowing the poles - another hazard to be aware of! The slalom course is very close to the rowing lake which is ab-solutely vast and there were cycling and running races taking place. After my practice run at 9.30am which was

uneventful but slow so I could get all the gates I saw Andy and Rowan Avery who had just arrived for Rowan to compete in the division 3 event. At the end of the first runs I was 20th out of 35 as I had collected 4 penal-ties and lost 5 seconds on the main drop (known as the Muncher) trying not to get sucked into the stop-per. Luckily the force of the water was no worse than CIWW so I was really enjoying it. I went down to see how Rowan was getting on and was surprised by 2 things: how quickly the water was flowing and that the layout of the course was not much easier than the division 1/2. I felt sorry for the division 4 paddlers who were capsizing and even the division 3 competitors were struggling. I un-derstand Rowan came in the top third and seemed to have enjoyed it. I managed to complete my second run penalty free and did not make the same mistake on the main drop; shaving 5 seconds off my previous run time. Results at the end of the day gave me a placing of 16th out of 36. I had thoroughly enjoyed a fantastic day albeit, a long one with my last run at 5pm. I would strongly recommend this event next year for those looking for a challenge. Andrew

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Reports - River Frome trip

The River Frome trip

8th May

After many depressing weeks of sun-shine and no rain, our collective spir-its lifted with the noise of thunder on Thursday night and the splatter of heavy rain drops, only to be dashed half an hour later when the rain stopped. But it came back on Satur-day night and for real too. Lashings of it. A good trip was on the cards now, but would it be in flood? There was talk of a ‘man-eating stopper’ at one of the weirs ... ‘That’s all right’ I thought. ‘It can eat all the men it wants as long as it leaves us ladies intact, thank you!’

Actually there were two lovely stop-pers today and neither was a man eater. They were both very polite, and friendly in fact. One was at Beck-ington Mill weir which is the sloping

one early on. We pretty much all played in that one and it was here that the points started. An open boat with three paddlers ap-proached. Howard was standing at the top to line it up and when it was poised for a perfect descent, he gave it a gentle nudge. But it was not to be. The canoe hovered and tipped! Three paddlers were about to be disgorged when Rich, waiting at the bottom, put a timely hand on the gunwale and prevented a full blown capsize. The points awarded for this technical rescue were infinitely preferable to wet bodies.

The weirs were fun today. Shawford weir (the big one just before the A361) saw some interesting action, with a record breaking 12 points gained by just two paddlers. Karl and Alex in a canoe, approached,

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River Frome trip continued


Paddlers and points Girls: Ellie H and Lily C (2), Boys: Alex W (6), Andrew (12), Ben L, Ben N, Jonathan W, Max C, Rich N and Robert (2), Ladies: Debbie A (2), Pam and Veronica Men : Howard (1), Jonathan, Karl W(6) and Rich

The open boaters were Karl, Alex and Veronica in one and Debbie, Lily and Robert in the other.

got positioned with a ‘perfect’ line and then noticed all the frantic waving from the people below, gesticulating wildly not to proceed. Karl hopped out at the top to take an look at the prob-lem but sadly forgot that man cannot stand on water. In he sank, taking hold of the side of the canoe as he went, and in doing so inflicting 3 undeserved points on a very quiet Alex. Self res-cues performed ... Take 2. Well they got over the weir, true enough, but the landing left something to be desired. and so the rest of the points accrued. Alex still feels he got a raw deal with points today.

It was a good trip with plenty of water, some beautiful sights, including banks covered in a kaleidoscope of pinks, yellows, whites and of course the usual buzzards, herons, mallards and jumping fish. And one of the highlights

has got to be the ‘bovine e x p e r i e n c e ’ which Howard enjoyed at the get out. Foot in sandal sinks deep into a fresh, brown, runny cowpat. Smelly stuff squelches all around the foot, between toes, between the sandal and sole - you got it, everywhere! Not very funny for him but the rest of us were in stitches.

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SLALOM NEWS


SLALOM: what IS happening this year? ...

PASSPORT TO SLALOM The new 4 week programme for Passport paddlers has been a great success. The next course starts on 22nd June.

Wednesday training GET TRAINING! Normal Wednesday sessions 7-8pm for youth/beginners and 8-9pm for adults/experienced paddlers. However these times are modified on one night per month when the Adult group uses all the equipment: June 8th, July 13th and August 10th. For these nights we will collapse the two normal training sessions and they will run together: 7-8pm.

Fun Mini Slaloms These popular events run at Langham Farm First one is 17th June (nb this date has been changed since last advertised!) See P14 for all the details.

Langham Farm Slalom Div 3/4 4th/5th June. Good for beginners.

Iron Bridge Slalom Div 2/3 25th/26th June. Talk to John if you want to share a lift

Shepperton Slalom Div 3/4 25th/26th June. John is not going to this one, but talk to

him if you wnat to know more.

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Slalom news continued

Slalom Results

14th May Holme Pierrepont

Div 2 Men K1 Andrew Lyall 14th

15th May HPP “Daleks”

Div 3 Men K1 Rowan Avery (yet tbc)

21st May Llandysul

Div 2 Men K1 John Kent 14th

Div 2 Men K1 Andrew Lyall 17th

Div 2 Men C1 Andy Avery 8th

Div 3 Men K1 Rowan Avery 2nd

Div 3 Men K1 Ben Nicol 5th

Div 3 Men C1 Ben Nicol 2nd

22nd May Llandysul

Div 2 Men K1 John Kent 21st

Div 2 Men K1 Andrew Lyall 23rd

Div 2 Men C1 Andy Avery 7th

Div 3 Men K1 Ben Nicol 2nd

Div 3 Men K1 Rowan Avery 3rd

Div 3 Men C1 Ben Nicol 2nd

Well done Ben, Rowan, Andrew, John and Andy!

See P9 for Andrew’s report of the Holme Pierrepont event. If you are new to the club, or have been with us for a bit but aren’t quite sure about this whole slalom thing. And you want to know more? Then ASK!

There are several people who can help you.

John and Andrew (above) coach every Wednesday between 7-9pm. Rich knows all the answers too! Also find him on Wednesday evenings at the Clubhouse.

LOOK HERE! The slalom we have on July 17th is perfect for beginners and for this year only we are encouraging all club members to have a go! Cut out the coupon in the next newsletter and members compete for free! Yes FREE! (Coupon and exact details next month.)

Slalom results from the recent Holme Pierrepont and Llandysul events.

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For more information, talk to John or Pam. Or email John: [email protected]

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A new initiative


Free coaching for FCC members

Two of our coaches are undergoing a new coaching award and looking for students. If you’re interested in participating, the coaching is free. We will be using some of the latest techniques in paddling and sports science, so we hope to provide a thoroughly good experience for anyone who signs up.

We will meet 1 - 2 times a month over 12 months. During this time all aspects of your paddling will be looked at including your physical fitness, physiological skills and of course your kayaking ability. You will also have to give feedback on us, and accept that we will need to photograph and video you.

Our ideal person would be

someone who has done 2 Star or is of about that standard, and

Who has decided that they like kayaking and want to progress their skills onto white water.

We need males and females over 14, ideally some that can drive. Some sessions will be at the club probably on a Monday night and others will be on a river at weekends. We will set the dates when the majority can make them and plan all the dates for the year in one go.

The first coaching session will identify what you want to achieve and where you want to get to with your paddling and then each person will have an

individual coaching plan to get them to that goal. Examples of possible goals could be to get 3 Star or be a competent white water paddler, be able to plan and run river trips or just to feel comfortable being part of a group.

During the coaching we will have other coaches come and watch us coach you, so all in all you will be the centre of attention.

If you’re interested please email us. When we have the right number and mix of people we will kick off and get everyone together. When started it would be very difficult to take new people on so please don’t delay if interested.

Thanks.

Rob Evered 07980 449218, [email protected]

Bryony Evered 07816 428236, [email protected]

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Copper noseclip points


Bill Fryer 24

Jane Thomas 18

Miles Benjafield 17

Sam Charlesworth 17

Jack Smiles 16

Jonny Bevan 16

Rich Carter 14

Becki Fryer 12

Chris Harvey 12

Tim Cottle 12

Karl Waldeck 12

Andrew Francis 12

Arthur Belbin 10

Alun Jones 9

Ian Jones 9

Jaz Shillabeer 9

Mike Bullen 9

Ellie Howell 9

Alex Nicol 8

Bob Barr 8

Joe Gregory 8

Veronica Francis 8

Ben Miles 6

Fred Hobbs 6

Jon Cox 6

Peter Thomas 6

Alex Waldeck 6

Bex Tanti 5

Jonathan Waldeck 5

Mandy James 5

Neil Dixon 5

Stuart Miles 5

Howard C 4

Lily Charlesworth 4

Alan Carpenter 3

Andrew Lyall 3

Ben Lemon 3

Gareth McGiveron 3

Jack Kimber 3

James Munn 3

John Kent 3

Jonathan Howell 3

Kate Johnson 3

Mark Baines 3

Nadine Robson 3

Terry O'Neill 3

Julia Rowley 3

Nathan Howell 3

Andrew Lyall 3

Danny O'Gorman 2

Hazel Cottle 2

Hilary Pound 2

Isi Miles 2

Katie Hobbs 2

Max Charlesworth 2

Lia Hobbs 2

Sam Nicol 2

Debbie Ashdown 2

Robert Francis 2

Carl Gilder 1

George McGiveron 1

Matt Norman 1

Sam Bloodworth 1

Swim = 3 points Rescue = 2 points Roll = 1 point

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Bits and pieces


Bring your tokens to any club session and post them in the collecting box.

The new river safety technique: SWIM the rapid with your throwline. Rich will cover this and all the latest techniques in the forthcoming Canoe Safety Course.

Log on to http://553390.spreadshirt.co.uk/ and pick what you want in what colour you want.

HAVE YOU ORDERED YOURS YET? Clothing can now be purchased with all our new designs. Ladies now have a choice of hoodies - check them out. Choose your fleece, t-shirt or hoodie in the colours of your choice! Add the caption you like the best and BINGO, you have your personal-ised version. We notice that postage cost reduce if you club together and send for more than one at any one time. So talk to your friends!

Membership Prices, 2011

Youth £16.50 Adult £26.50 Family £42

http://553390.spreadshirt.co.uk/

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Thank you Mandy and John. A complete paint-job for the toilet block at Langham Farm! Scraping the old peeling paint off, priming, undercoat AND gloss. What a mammoth task! Ed: A job well done. It looks lovely now and will last a few more years. It was definitely in need of an overhaul and the timing is perfect for the forthcoming Slalom.

Bits and Pieces

Congratulations to Sara

Sara enters the new kingdom of grandparent-hood. Her daughter had a lovely little girl, Ria on 12th

May. Baby and Mum are doing fine.

YOUNG PEOPLE remember to bring a change of clothes when you come canoeing. We like you going home in dry gear after paddling with us.

Where am I? A clock strikes eight. It ‘s not on the hour, but who cares? And then it’s all quiet again. Peaceful and calm. Serene and still. A pigeon coos. I spot a vivid blue colour as a bird flashes by. Joined by a mallard with its cumbersome flight. And there in the bank is a different flower! A yellow iris. How did it get there? It contrasts so completely with the soft feathery leaves and white flow-ers of cowparsley growing nearby. I hear another sound: a gentle noise, Splish, splash, Regular and rhythmical. Splish, splash. Ah! My peace will come to an end!

Sadly our surfing trip on 22nd May came to nought. They loaded up, drove to Saunton and watched 10ft waves roll in as they stood at 45°, bracing themselves against a Force 7. Disappointing! Roll on our surfing trip in August.

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Bits and Pieces

ONE STAR PASSES The following people took the One Star over the weekend of 21st/22nd May. All passed.

Aaron Ginger Alex Bloodworth Lucas Wheeler Theo Hersey Marie Bennett Claire Drake Kate Harris Sandy Goodson

Congratulations to you all. Hope to see you all on some club trips now that you have your One Star!

And what about our two slaloms this year?

Go on! Give them a go!

WEBSITE Use the Calendar section of the website to check dates/events /changes to dates. It is updated regularly so if you lose your newsletter you can check there.

And have you looked at the Message Board? There are some interesting dia-logues there if you are that way inclined!

Facebook: and finally, have you found the link from our web page to the FCC facebook site? It’s in bottom right corner of the top photo on our web page.

The Langham Farm Site

As you drive along the lane to the Langham Farm site where we canoe on Fridays and hold the slalom event etc., remember that

this road goes through a working farm and there is a family home at the end of it. In addition it is a footpath with walkers, some of whom are small children.

For these reasons we need to drive slowly and considerately to cause the minimum risk to livestock and the minimum distur-bance to the owners. Please keep your speed down.

We have the use of the site for canoeing, by the generosity of the farmers, Rich and Jane and we do not want to abuse it.

PAM NEEDS CAKES

For Sat 4th June The Slalom event

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The Scotland DVD plus Volunteers are needed

www.frome-canoe-club.org.uk

CONTACTS

Chairman: Andy Bell 07966 203309

Vice Chair: Rich Carter 01373 864623 [email protected]

Treasurer: John Kent 01225 765168 [email protected]

Secretary: Pam Dixon 01373 473836 [email protected]

Youth Voice: Jack Smiles [email protected]

Canoeing and kayaking are “Assumed risk” – “Water contact sports” that may carry attendant risks. Participants should be aware of and accept these risks, and be responsible for their own action and involvement.

Get all your canoeing

things from the Family

Adventure Store at

Hilperton. BA14 7PJ

Check out the photos of club events or put a comment on the message board!

CALLING ALL PARENTS HELP IS NEEDED

WEDNESDAY CLUB SESSIONS

We need more volunteers to help give out kit on Wednesdays. Also help is needed when paddlers get off the water. For the last two weeks the kit store has been a bombsite at the end of the evening: we could really do with more help. No previous experience is needed - we will show you everything you need to know!

Can you give up one Wednesday a month (or more) to be in a rota of volunteers? First hour or second hour? Email Pam if

you want to know more. [email protected]

SCOTLAND 2011 DVD: FIRST SHOWING

Be prepared

to blown away

by the white

water antics

of our club

daredevils.

FIRST showing of Alex’s DVD on

Monday 13th June at 7.30pm

at the Clubhouse. Everyone is welcome.

2011 06 newsletter

Documents