The programme for this winter season is now online - get your diaries out and start pencilling things in!

The Lido sessions have  now come to an end.  however, there are still lots of paddling activites going on.  Meet at Dowty's to find out more.  We'll be there from 8pm this week with a few dry land paddling activities.

Congratualtions to Callie- Ann who was promoted to div 1/prem in C1 ladies this weekend. 

Fed up of paddling the same rivers?  Want to see a special river in the programme? or just want to make sure an old favourite is there?

This Thursday at Dowty's we are starting to look at the winter paddling programme.  Anybody who wants their say is welcome to do so as we bring a DRAFT programme to get the discussions going. 

Ali

Would you like to join the committee and be responsible for club coaching and training? Putting the coaching programme together (covering lido, pool and rivers), liasion with the club's coaches, writing session plans (inc. progression), organising training and so on... if yes, get in touch with Adam or Ali to register your interest.

Would you like to develop your white water skills to get you to the level where you can help the club and lead on rivers? The club is organising a course (1 as a minimum, more if demand warrants it), contact Adam now to register your interest. The course will be tailored to the groups needs. The course will be either based in North or Mid Wales over two days. The cost of the course is £60. Dont delay, speak to Adam today!

The newsletter is (very) slowly coming together. However we have the bare bones, but as ever we are still short on articles. Please email either myself or post on the forum thread. 

Cheers

Rich

With the Lido season now upon us it always becomes a real balancing act to try and accommodate the needs of all our members in this limited space.  The pool is there for people to be able to develop those paddling skills which may be easiest done in a pool environment e.g. learning to roll, practicing braces.  It is also where we are able to hold our polo games.  Therefore this year we are going to try and specifically do the following:

• Continue to allow polo games to take place at the deep end;
• Provide a venue for beginner adults to learn the basics of the sport;
• Provide coaching for those adults wishing to develop specific skills further;
• To provide coaching for those juniors who have shown a commitment to the sport by attending pool sessions throughout the winter or by attending river trips/competitions.

What we are not able to do this year is take on any more new juniors who have not paddled before.  Obviously if a junior comes along with a paddling parent to supervise them they will not be turned away from the club.  Also we request that those people wanting to practice their playboating skills consider those around them when doing it. 

With regards to the use of Club boats, we will make an effort to ensure that boats are kept back for members first but, at 7:40 if there are still boats available for use, non members will be allowed to use them and join in with the sessions.  Own boats are always welcome providing they are clean.

The Lido sessions begin this Thursday and as always we need a range of helpers to help the sessions run well.

 Please can you look in your diaries and let me know which sessions you are able to help out at whether that be as a coach (you can specifiy adults or children), a general dogs body helping any complete beginners get started, or in a dry land role like collecting money.

At the moment I just want a list of dates you would be prepared to help out with and I'll fill out a plan from there and publish a programme. If evervybody did 4 sessions there would still be 13 sessions to personally enjoy.  Obviously the more people who help out the less everybody needs to do.

Thanks

Ali

The Lido is opening this year with a ‘Turning Back Time’ event on Saturday 1^st May. The day will commence at 11am with staff in traditional uniform and entrance price of 2p with activities throughout the day.  They would like Cheltenham Canoe Club to run a taster session to those interested at 3pm.  It will run for 1 - 1.5 hours.  We need volunteers to run the session but as per usual this coincides with the Woolacombe trip so a few of us will be away.   We also need to arrange to deliver boats and kit to the Lido either on the day or perhaps one evening before then.  Please let me know if you can help.  It involves managing kids into an orderly queue, helping them in and out of boats, keeping an eye on them on the water, showing them how to hold a paddle and possibly paddle forwards. Simple.  I'll post this on the Forum page as well so that you can post a response.  Noreen

If you haven't ever participated in a White Water Safety & Rescue course, or are feeling rusty with your skills, contact Mark Thompson for a place. He is kindly organising a trip for the back end of May. See the forum for further information. Recent events demonstrate the importance of these courses.

Adam.

We are now in the fourth month of the year and currently the number of membership subscriptions received is low. Having said that, the  club evenings, pool sessions and weekend trips are still busy. Those returning members who have not yet joined are therefore invited to download (or ask Sharon for one) a membership form and pass it to Sharon as soon as possible with an accompanying cheque or cash. Alternatively you can email the form to me or Sharon and request from me the details necessary to make a bank transfer for the subs instead. The membership form can be found from the link on the club info page.
 
We look forward to the flurry of submissions.
 
Adam.

The new spring/summer programme is up on the website.  A newsletter will follow when we have some more articles, so get scribbling!