Club news

General club news

Pool sessions are back!

Posted on by Web Assistant

We are happy to announce that following the short notice cancellation of our Yateley Manor Sessions we have now been able to secure use of another indoor pool.

We will be running a three week trial of paddling at Lord Wandsworth College. We will run two 45 minute sessions each Wednesday evening on the 15th, 22nd, and 29th November. This pool is significantly larger than the one at Yateley Manor, but unfortunately the price for the club to hire it does reflect that. So while we hope to be able to continue paddling there, we will have to monitor attendance over the course of the three trial sessions and determine how to proceed.

All of the trial sessions can now be booked through the events page of the club website. If you would like to paddle at these sessions then please do sign up as there is important information we need to send you about accessing the pool. At present we have not set a specific theme for each session (like we did for some sessions at Yateley); instead there will be a number of coaches available to help you learn / practice whatever you wish to. As a result please feel free to book whichever session time you prefer (though I imagine the earlier session time will be more popular with our younger paddlers – being a school night). Each session will be limited to 10 spaces, as determined by the number of kayaks available (see below).

Please note that the school has informed us that they will not allow any external boats to be used on their pool (we did ask for leeway, but they were very firm on the matter). As a result we are limited to using the 10 kayaks that they have stored on site (pictures of these kayaks can be seen on the event page). We appreciate that this situation is not ideal for everyone, but we do not have an alternative. Should you arrive at a session and be unable to paddle in the kayaks that are available (i.e. you do not fit) then we will of course refund you the cost of the session.

We would also like to say a big thank you to everyone who suggested potential venues to us; we did enquire with every single one of them (over 25 in total!), but Lord Wandsworth has emerged as the only viable option.

We hope to see many of you on the water again soon!

Club updates & Slovenia 2024 information

Posted on by Web Assistant

We just wanted to provide everyone with an update on our club activities over the coming weeks. As most of you will know our weekly sessions have unfortunately been on hold due to the short notice closure of the pool at Yateley Manor. The club volunteering team have been hard at work trying to find alternative pools, but this has proven difficult; we are continuing to investigate a couple of pool options but have not been able to come to a final agreement yet. We are also looking into running paddling sessions on the Basingstoke canal at weekends, to keep everyone paddling together in the event that we cannot secure use of a pool prior to Yateley Manor reopening (hopefully in January).

In the meantime we do have several events coming up over the next couple of weeks.

Halloween Paddle – Saturday 28th October

To celebrate Halloween this year we’ll be doing an after-dark paddle on the Basingstoke Canal; this will be a joint trip with Basingstoke Canal Canoe Club (B3C). The club rarely paddles in the dark so this will be a chance to experience a new type of paddling. You may also come dressed up for the occasion in a Halloween costume, provided it is safe for paddling in (this will need to be assessed by a club volunteer prior to you getting on the water – please do not wear anything which will impair your ability to paddle / get out of your kayak safely, or significantly limit your vision).

B3C have allowed us to make use of their equipment for this trip, but a significant number of their members will be paddling (and will understandably have priority when it comes to access to their club’s equipment). Therefore if you do have access to your own equipment then please bring it. They have also invited us to join them “for hot drinks and Halloween themed games” at the canal centre function room after the paddle.

If you are interested please sign up here (and indicate whether you need to borrow equipment) as soon as possible (if you haven’t already done so), so that we can advise B3C of the numbers we expect to attend.

Dartmoor Whitewater Trip – Friday 3rd – Sunday 5th November

Our yearly trip to Dartmoor will be taking place in a couple of weeks’ time. We will be traveling down on Friday afternoon / evening, and paddling on Saturday & Sunday (heading home Sunday afternoon / evening). We will be staying at the Prince of Wales Bunkhouse in Princetown; and paddling either the River Dart, or other rivers in the area depending on river conditions and the experience of the group.

If you are interested please sign up here, accommodation at the bunkhouse is limited to 10 people and spaces are filling up fast. You may make your own accommodation arrangements if you wish.

Weekend Whitewater Sessions – Sunday 19th November & 3rd December

Following on from the Dartmoor Trip we will be restarting our bi-weekly moving water sessions. The venue for these sessions will be decided a little closer to the time, but they are typically held at local weirs or at whitewater courses such as the Nene or Lee Valley.

Slovenia 2024 Information Session – Wednesday 8th November

In the summer of next year BVCC will be heading to the beautiful Soča Valley in Slovenia. This meeting is your chance to find out more about what this trip might look like, what Slovenia offers as a kayaking / travel destination, and ask any questions you might have. Following this meeting we will look to get a list together of those who are interested, so that we can start planning the trip as a group. While this won’t be the deadline for signing up for the trip; being involved in the planning from the beginning will give you an opportunity to influence how we run the trip.

We will be meeting at the Willems Park Brewers Fayre in Aldershot at 7 pm on Wednesday 8th November. If you cannot make this meeting, but are interested in the trip then please get in contact with us, and we can provide you with more information / put you on the list of those who want to come.

If you want to find out a bit more about the Slovenia trip (including photos and videos from previous years) then check out the event page on the club website, if you would like to come to the information evening then please sign up using the form at the bottom of the page, so that we know who to expect.

An update on sessions

Posted on by Web Assistant

With the indoor pool season having come to an end we just wanted to provide some quick updates on what the Club has planned over the next couple of months.

Canal sessions

Our first canal session is on Wednesday next week (5th April), paddling from the Basingstoke Canal Centre. Basingstoke Canal Canoe Club have kindly allowed us to make use of their boat store for these sessions, so equipment will be available on-site (or you can bring your own).

Due to the limited daylight available please aim to arrive at about 6:30 pm, as we will be aiming to have everyone on the water before 7 pm. If you wish to attend these sessions then please sign up on the website, so that we can send you the code required to open the barrier at the canal centre car park prior to the session.

You can sign up for our canal sessions can on the events page of the club website.

Whitewater sessions

We have now finalised our whitewater calendar up until the start of the summer season. These sessions are run every other weekend, typically on a Sunday (with the exception of the 15th April). The planned schedule is as follows:

  • 02/04/2023 – Shepperton Weir
  • 15/04/2023 – Weir (location TBD based on conditions)
  • 30/04/2023 – Nene Whitewater Centre
  • 14/05/2023 – Lee Valley Whitewater Centre
  • No session on weekend of 27th / 28th
  • 11/06/2023 –  Lee Valley Whitewater Centre
  • 25/06/2023 – Coxes lock (Moving Water Taster Session)

All these sessions are now on the club website events page.

Volunteering events

BVCC will be supporting a couple of kayaking based events in the local community in the coming months. We always greatly appreciate any help that our members are able to give for these events (you don’t need to be a regular club volunteer in order to help out).

On the 22nd April the club will be continuing its long standing support of the Farnham Scouts Family Camp. We will be running kayaking taster sessions for the scouts and their family members throughout the day, in the river that runs alongside the campsite. This is always a very rewarding and enjoyable day for the volunteers; we typically see 200 – 250 people on the water over the course of the day (split over 30 minute sessions) and receive lots of positive feedback from the local Scout groups.

We are looking for volunteers both in the water (helping people with paddling, dealing with capsizes, etc.) and on the bank (signing people in, helping with equipment, etc.). The Scout kitchen will provide a free hot lunch, as well as hot / cold drinks during the day for our volunteers. We will also need people to help move equipment to the campsite before the day and return equipment to the Lido afterwards (details of this will be confirmed a little closer to the time). You can see a write-up and photos of last year’s camp on our website. You can sign-up as a volunteer here.

We are also anticipating being asked to help at Aldershot Lido’s opening day on Saturday 27th May, as we have done for the last several years. On the opening day we run free kayaking taster sessions which anyone at the Lido can attend. More details will be announced closer to the time.

Club trips

Our club volunteers are currently working on a schedule for club trips for the rest of the year (we’re aiming for one a month), if you have any suggestions for trips you would like to do then please let us know by speaking to one of our volunteers at a session or dropping us an email.

Club Facebook group

Many of you will already be aware, but for the benefit of our newer members we just wanted to say that you are welcome to join our club’s Facebook group. We post more frequent club updates there, as we tend to reserve emails for important announcements to avoid clogging up people’s inboxes. We also have a club Facebook page.

If you have any questions about anything in this email then please do not hesitate to contact me.

A productive day down the boat store

Posted on by Web Assistant

On Saturday 25th September a group of the club’s volunteers spent over five hours at the boat store carrying out maintenance. In that time they were able to get though inspecting the majority of the club’s boats and noting any required maintenance work to be carried out over the winter period. Many boats were also repaired, ensuring they are fully serviceable for the winter season. In addition the boat store racks were cleaned out and the boats put back in neatly making the boat store much tidier.

Our dedicated volunteers will likely be down the boat store more times over the winter period helping to keep our equipment in a serviceable condition. In addition to what you see our volunteers doing at sessions they spend many more hours of their time “behind the scenes” to keep the club running smoothly.

Great turnout for our autumn canal sessions

Posted on by Web Assistant

With lockdown #3 finally ending the club was able to get back to the Lido and we were treated to a amazing summer season. Everyone was glad to be back together and the average attendance for our summer sessions was in the high 30s, often hitting our 45 person capacity limit. Once the summer Lido season came to an end this momentum continued into our autumn canal sessions.

We ended up with around 30 people attending both of our canal sessions, over double what we would typically expect. The sessions were a great success with everyone thoroughly enjoying the chance to go for a nice evening of social paddling together down the canal.

Here are some pictures from our nights on the canal:

The club’s website has been updated!

Posted on by Web Assistant

As you have probably noticed if you are reading this we have given the club website a bit of an update. We now have a club news feed where we can post updates, news, and other interesting information about the club, like what you’re reading now. The home page now also has a list of our upcoming events so you can easily see the sessions, trips, and other things we have planned in the near future.

There is also a brand new About Us page which contains information about our club, where we paddle, and the wide variety of disciplines we partake in. There are also plenty of photos from our club adventures to look through.

Have a look around and let us know what you think.