Rowing club launches £2m funding campaign

ONE of the oldest rowing clubs in the world has launched a £2 million fundraising campaign for new facilities.

Henley Rowing Club, in Wargrave Road, wants a new and improved clubhouse to double its capacity and training provision.

The club, which currently trains around 300 athletes, says that these improvements will help it take on more rowers and expand its school outreach programme.

The plan is to effectively double the club’s size with an extension, refurbish the interior and buy new equipment.

One of the aims is to improve accessibility for people with physical challenges and to make the facilities carbon-neutral.

The club has been based in Henley since 1839 and was offered the land it currently occupies by Henley Town Council in 1979.

The current building was constructed in the Eighties, and features a boathouse, a bar and two gym areas, one of which doubles as a club room and kitchen. The other was added as an extension to the rear of the building in 2011.

The club has set a soft deadline of 2030 for completing the project, with the longer-term aim of finishing it by 2039 in time for its 200th anniversary.

The club has already drawn up a design of what the new club could look like and has taken pre-planning advice from Wokingham Borough Council, the planning authority. Leading the fundraising drive is parent Jenny Wallace-Silva, whose 15-year-old son, Franco, rows with the club.

Ms Wallace-Silva said: “We want to ensure that the club is modernised, brought up to date and has better accessibility and inclusivity.

“The club is reaching almost 200 years in existence, which is amazing, and we want to make sure that we’ve got a club for another 200 years.”

Ms Wallace-Silva said one of the aims of the redevelopment was to double its membership.

She said: “We want to double the space, particularly around the training so that we can double the member numbers from 300 to 600.

“Importantly, we want to ensure that we can do more schools outreach and local community outreach. We don’t have the space currently and we want to give all youth an opportunity to row because we’re all about inclusivity at this club.”

The fundraising campaign has been divided into three phases. The first focuses on raising the initial £1 million through private and corporate sponsorships, donations and outreach to local community networks. This phase is expected to generate the majority of the funds.

The second phase will engage club members and alumni through smaller events aimed at helping to push the project across the initial £1 million target.

Finally, the club plans to hire a funding expert to explore match-funding opportunities to bring the total raised up to £2 million.

Ms Wallace-Silva was confident of raising the £2 million needed.

She said: “It sounds big, it’s ambitious, but with introductions to local businesses and corporates, we could potentially do it with 20 large donations.

“We’re just really excited to get off the ground and see how quickly we can make it happen.” One of the fundraising initiatives is to honour the first 50 people who make a donation, of any amount, with their names displayed on a wall at the entrance to the new club.

The club is also hoping to attract sponsors for merchandise as well for its community outreach and schools programme.

Ms Wallace-Silva said that for many children, rowing provides more than just a sport.

She said: “Everyone’s equal in rowing and everyone mucks in. The resilience, the hard work, the tenacity just to row through the winter months, it’s amazing.

“They all pull together and help each other along.”

Many of the club’s athletes have gone on to win rowing scholarships at universities overseas.

Chairwoman Helen Turnell said that some of the club’s younger juniors train off-site at Trinity Hall in Harpsden Road due to space constraints.

She said: “We are just a bit cramped for space and it’s just not quite flexible enough. Many people want to join but we just don’t have the capacity at the moment.”

Ms Turnell added that making the building accessible for all users was also a “high priority”.

She said: “Anybody that struggles in any sort of movement would not get into any of our buildings. So we need to address that very quickly.”