Claire Hardwick and Ian Flanders are currently running a series of Leader Training Workshops aimed at three star paddlers (Kayak/Open Canoe), who are considering taking their coaching or leadership awards, or just want to increase their paddling knowledge and confidence. These sessions are also open to younger members aged 14 and up, or anyone interested in the Paddlesport Activity Assistant Award.

The next sessions are:-

Sunday 29th July – Sea Kayak Skills, rescues and rolling.

Sunday August 12th – Foundation Safety Rescue Training Skills

We will be continuing on from the session on the 17th June. However, you do not need to have attended in June to attend this session.
To book your place click here.

Many club members are not coaches or qualified leaders, yet they do perform the role of assisting within groups and in running sessions. There is now a British Canoeing award available which recognises these skills. It is open to anyone 14 years and above and is ideal for young paddlers. In some ways this award replaces the old Cadet Leader scheme.

There are more details on the British Canoeing website.
https://www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/courses/paddlesport-activity-assistant
Don’t let the paperwork put you off. There are no requirements to attend a formal training course.

Many of our helpers already have sufficient skills to qualify for the award. Some may want some short training sessions and assistance in completing the log book.

We hope to offer training sessions for anyone interested in gaining this award.
For further information, or to show interest in this scheme please contact Claire Hardwick via tripsplanning@adventuredolphin.co.uk

There has been some delay, but all coaches who attended our Standards Day event earlier in the year (25th March) should now have received an email from British Canoeing (BC) to confirm that they have an 18 month CPD update in their coach record.
Please check your coaching file on the BC website to ensure that your CPD points have registered.

Top tip: Sign onto BC website- Look at the Top right – Sign In, (Use BC number or your email address if you can’t remember log in details) – My profile – Credentials – You will find a list of your credentials – active and expired Awards, courses etc.
Remember – the club can only deploy coaches that maintain their “Update” status. Coaches who have allowed their qualifications to lapse can still coach with us, but have to be supervised by a qualified coach and do not count as a coach when we calculate coach to participant ratios.
For further information regarding the update requirements visit: https://www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/coaching-leadership/support-recognition/coach-update-scheme

Once again we were lucky to have a blue skies paddle on the Thames. Starting at the Wokingham Waterside Centre at Dreadnought Reach we made our way towards Sonning where of course we were obliged to pull up at the pub where ice creams were being sold by the riverside.

By now the temperature had risen and we were pleased to enter the quiet sheltered waters of St Patrick’s Stream, a backwater of the Thames. What makes this a classic paddle of course is the drop in height of the river which creates a twisting gentle moving water paddle on St Pat’s. It was idyllic floating past the large houses and garden and seeing wildlife. We had received a warning from local paddlers that there was a tree down causing a passable obstruction. Any excuse for getting the pruning saw out!

Exiting St Pat’s brought us to Wargrave Boat Club where we were warmly greeted and offered tea. We couldn’t stay long though as the club doesn’t admit dogs onto its site so we moved down river and had lunch on the bank outside the George and Dragon.

The final leg of the journey took as down another backwater, this time Hennerton Water. Again lots of house with enormous riverside gardens, wildlife and by now very welcome shade from the sun.

As it was bank holiday weekend there were many boats on the river which meant queueing at the locks but everyone was in good humour. We arrived at the Eyot Centre in Henley to the sounds of a brass band playing in the park. We felt we were being welcomed to the town. All agreed it was a lovely paddle and it was great seeing so many enjoying the river either on it – in a variety of boats – or on the river banks.

Open Day 2018 – An unexpected success!

Despite that fact that this year’s Open Day plans were blown apart by the weather and hindered by red boards declaring it too dangerous to take beginners out on the water, members rallied and delivered one of the most successful events we have ever staged as volunteers secured 15 course bookings and took memberships on the day.

Adventure Dolphin, Open Day Organiser, Ed Edwards said: “The odds were against us. The weather forecast for the week predicted yet more rain and we were faced with the prospect of cancelling. Our marketing had attracted over 200 bookings (a first!) and while we didn’t want to lose those people’s support, we felt that it would be unfair to encourage them to come along, only to be disappointed.

“Discussions amongst the operations team (Seneschal) resulted in a compromise, so we emailed all visitors to inform them that we were unable to facilitate water-based activities, but that we still had plenty to see and do. Much to our delight 90 people joined us and a very productive and enjoyable day was had by all.

“So, I would like to thank all the volunteers who helped on the day and made our visitors feel so welcome. A range of activities including climbing, conversations about different boats, paddling machines, play boating and moving water skills demos, videos, books, backwoods fire lighting, use of Kelly kettles (with marshmallows and hot chocolate) were provided and our catering team did a brilliant job at keeping everyone going.”

Ed added: “There were lots of highlights on the day, but the way our volunteers interacted with visitors and the booking-in system really stood out, and the best picture goes to the children in the open canoe in the puddle just outside the building – it created the biggest smiles! Thank you to everyone involved.”

Well even with the snow falling 6 of us hardy paddlers took to the water on Sunday for a paddle down river. Fantastic views of the snow covered hills around us.

This week’s Sunday Paddle took on a different look as we all tried our hands (and Paddles) at our new version of net/basket ball.

Everyone had a great time trying to understand the rules as we chopped and changed them allowing the game developed. It was great fun, a good work out, and all in preparation for the curry lunch back at the centre .