In 2023, Strathclyde Park Rowing Club ran 36 sessions with 281 participants.

The organisers commented:

“A highlight for us was working with 5 young people from FirPark Secondary School which has pupils with a range of challenging conditions including cystic fibrosis, hypermobility and autism. They completed a block of 5 sessions, each of 90 minutes.

The first session was on water in single person Glide training boats with stabilising floats – some of the group were very anxious and their main achievement was to get into and out of the boat, overcoming their fear of water. Week 2, again in Glides we had the full group on the water and by the end of the session were starting to row confidently. Week 3, in Glides again, all of the group were able to rowing backwards, forwards, with controlled steering and spinning the boat. Week 4 we spent indoors on ergs connected with slides and in the tank at the Scottish Rowing Centre to get the group rowing as a crew. This was not without challenge as one of the participants was very sensitive to the noises of the machines, but the outcome was the group were able to row together. The final session, we had group members rowing together along with club coaches and volunteers in a coxed quad training boat. Each member of the group was able to row 500 m up Strathclyde Loch then back down on the racing course which they absolutely loved. The participants were all anxious that the boat didn’t have stabilising floats but were willing to accept the challenge as the coaches and volunteers had built a really good rapport with the group over the weeks.

The volunteers were great with the pupils from the start, got to know them well and were able to work with them to achieve their goals and overcome any reservations they had.”

The feedback from schools was fantastic:

“The coaches put a huge amount of thought and effort into the experience for all our pupils and also how they could support our wheelchair user and visually impaired pupils.”
Head Teacher, Knowetop Primary School

“This was an amazing opportunity for our pupils as this is an activity that they might not have had the chance to experience otherwise.”
 Teacher, Dalziel High School

Strathclyde Park RC have been working on a study with University of West of Scotland looking at the local youth groups and their perceptions of rowing before and after participating. We look forward to seeing how this has progressed and sharing it with other projects to learn from.