Sport England

The Nation's Biggest Supporter

Burton Canoe Club helps take national scheme to 1000 club landmark

The achievement of a West Midlands, Staffordshire Canoe club has helped Sport England reach a national landmark. Burton Canoe Club has been awarded Clubmark accreditation for being a well run club and it has taken the total number of sports clubs to achieve the award to 1000.

The canoe club now has 100+ members and in the past year has been in the process of fund raising for a new club house as part of the Community Club Development Programme (CCDP) and have just appointed a Community Sports Coach.

Burton Canoe Club has been recognised as having reached high national standards of good management, coaching, equal opportunities and safety. The Sport England's Clubmark scheme has now achieved 1000 fully accredited clubs in 20 different sports. It means that the scheme is rapidly becoming the established quality standard for all sports clubs in the country.

Sport England's Chief Executive Roger Draper said: "Congratulations to Burton Canoe Club on their Clubmark award. It is not easy to reach the standards demanded by scheme so Burton Canoe Club should be very proud of all they have achieved.

"The Clubmark scheme is really gaining momentum. It is good that we have 1000 accredited clubs but perhaps even more encouraging is that over a thousand more clubs have applied to join."

Olympic bronze medalist Ian Wynne who started Paddlesport at a local club when he was 10 says of Clubmark;
"It is important to set high standards for our sport, at all stages from teaching beginners to coaching the elite athletes which represent us at international competitions. Good clubs are really important for the future success of canoeing. Clubmark is a standard all clubs should be striving for."

Burton Canoe Club received their award from a Sport England representative on Thursday 16th June, 2005 as part of a series of events across the country to mark the 1000 club landmark.

For more information on the club please visit their website - www.burtoncanoeclub.co.uk

For further information please contact:

For further information about Clubmark call Malcolm Munro 07850 775657

Chris Simon, Perfect Motion Sports Marketing on 0115 9161615 or 07973 807339.

Chloe Nelson, British Canoe Union & Canoe England on 0115 982 4211

Unless otherwise stated, all images are the property of Canoe England and any copying or reproduction of them should be agreed in advance.

Notes to the editors:
Canoe England is a division of the British Canoe Union (BCU). It was established in 2000 when the BCU federalised to become the umbrella organisation for the Home Nation Associations in Scotland (SCA), Wales (WCA) and Northern Ireland (CANI)

Canoe England was set up to support the development of canoeing in England.

The BCU was set up in 1936 to send a team to the Berlin Olympics and is the lead body for canoeing and kayaking in the UK. The BCU is responsible for leading and setting the overall framework for the National Associations; including representing canoeing interests through coaching, competition and campaigning for increased access to Britain's waterways for paddlers. In the Athens Olympics, Canoeing was one of Team GB's most successful sports with medals for Ian Wynne (Bronze), Helen Reeves (Bronze) and Campbell Walsh (Silver).

Today the BCU has a membership of over 50,000, including over 500 affiliated clubs and 145 approved centres. According to the Paddlesport Review there are an estimated 2 million people take to the water in a canoe each year. The vast majority do so under a watchful eye of one of the 13,000 BCU Qualified coaches or as part of an affiliated organisation. For more information visit: www.bcu.org.uk.

IN YOUR REGION

Graphic Version | How to use this site | Site map | A-Z Index | Contact Us

FEEDBACK | PRIVACY/DISCLAIMER