Area: Guildford
About: Guildford Rowing Club is a truly inclusive club proud of their growing adaptive rowing team. They are a shining example of a club that is breaking down barriers and making rowing accessible for all.
Enabling disabled people to be active improves their physical fitness and their well being – there’s nothing like seeing the smile on their faces when they’ve finished a session.
Club Volunteer
Love Rowing has supported the club since 2023, and it has been fantastic to be part of their journey to make the sport accessible for disabled people. In 2024, Love Rowing accessed additional funding from the Bruce Wake Charitable Trust to build on the success of the adaptive rowing Love Rowing funded programme in 2023. The funding has been used for accessible equipment adding capacity and flexibility through additional floats, fixed seat and blades.
Impact: The club now have 18 disabled people taking part regularly in rowing.
The equipment brings people together, after use allowing time for reflection and discussion about living with disabilities.
Club Volunteer
Participation in rowing is transforming lives including improved self-confidence, physical rehabilitation’ reduced social isolation, pathways into coaching and volunteering, and a sense of belonging – with many reporting they have often felt excluded and not ‘allowed’ to participate in sport before.
My son has cerebral palsy. Although mild it interferes now increasingly as his peers become stronger. Rowing has helped him build his self-esteem and strength whilst enabling him to see others with the same disability. The adaptations and understanding have helped him with his anxiety and engagement at school. Thank you.
Parent of Max.
What next: Love Rowing has awarded Guildford Rowing Club with a further grant to enable them to purchase a hoist to ensure that hoist dependent individuals can access the water. This will open up the sport to at least 10 new wheelchair users and improve the quality of experience and dignity for many of the existing members.
Find out more: https://guildfordrowingclub.org.uk/squads/grc-adaptive-squad/