At this year’s BBC’s coverage of the Boat Race, coaches and young people from Fulham Reach spoke with Claire Balding about the club and its ‘Rowing For All’ mission.
Fulham Reach runs several programmes benefiting people from a wide range of backgrounds by getting them out on the water - these include:
- Reaching 866 children through the State School Rowing Initiative
- Expanding the Free Water Sports Weeks during school holidays
- The Boats not Bars initiative, run by World champion rower ex-GB athlete and FRBC Prisons Manager Imogen Walsh, which aims to rehabilitate offenders and reduce reoffending.
Speaking to the BBC’s Claire Balding, coach Aidan explained the club’s mission:
“Ultimately, we’re trying to give people more opportunities to access rowing. Ordinarily, people from certain backgrounds wouldn’t have access to it, so what we’re really looking for is to have maximum inclusion so that people from all colours, creeds, backgrounds different demographics can have a go at such a wonderful sport.”
In the week leading up to the Boat Race, Fulham Reach partnered with the Boat Race Fund to host the inaugural Youth Boat Race. The event gave young rowers from seven different schools across West London the chance to compete on the iconic Boat Race course.
CEO of Fulham Reach Boat Club, Adam Freeman-Pask:
“The event went better than expected, after 195 years of the Boat Race, one of the longest running amateur sports events, we finally have a youth outreach event that local children can participate in!
Whilst the event on the day was a brilliant feel-good event, the pre-event activities such as the co-design of the brand and posters with the participants and the school talks all added to the build-up and helped to engage new audiences in the Boat Race that took place on the Easter weekend.”
Chief Sports Writer for The Times, Owen Slot, following the Boat Race Week said: “The Highlight of Boat Race week was arguably the inaugural Youth Boat Race"
Watch the full BBC Sport interview below:
And watch the highlight video of Youth Boat Race here:
Poster of the boat race co-designed with participants:
