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Our boathouse was opened just after the London Olympics in 2012 and was funded predominantly with grants provided by Canoe England and North Lincolnshire Council. We are sure that the many local people who are our members past and present have benefited immensely from this investment.
That was only the first phase of developing our club as a sporting venue, and in Olympics year 2016 we feel the time is right to enter the next phase. The management committee have been busy these last few months engaging in talks with North Lincolnshire Council, British Canoeing and Sport England to see what we need to do to improve what we can offer the local community and how it can be funded..
What we have at Brigg is a fantastic natural resource which all parties agree is under used, and its proximity to the Leisure Centre means it is an ideal location to develop the river as a sporting location as part of a bigger sporting complex.
From our preliminary discussions with potential sources of funding, we have learnt that for bids for substantial amounts of money to be successful we should be able to demonstrate need, impact, community involvement and sustainability, and above all else that the wider community benefits, not just us canoeists.
We have therefore produced a River Development Proposal to form the basis for a funding bid that may include some or all of the following:
- A permanent wire system across the river to allow the suspension of slalom poles and polo goals for year round Canoe Slalom and Canoe Polo training and for hosting regional events.
- Floodlighting for the length of the polo/slalom pitch.
- Improved parking and access to the building and to the river, including disabled access between the boathouse and the leisure centre.
- A rise-and-fall jetty for better disabled access to the river. This will also allow simultaneous launching of kayaks & canoes, and allow longer hulled boats such as Dragon Boats to be used.
- Improvements to the general river environs, including removing weeds and turfing the bank for the length of the polo/slalom area.
- One or two day-moorings off the new Jetty for visiting motor craft.
- Modernise our aging fleet of specialised racing boats (Marathon, Sprint, Slalom and Polo)
- An insulated and heated Mezzanine floor to provide a comfortable multi-purpose room, and to make better use of our available space, creating additional boat storage.
Besides benefiting ourselves, we need to demonstrate other beneficiaries. They may include:
Lincsquad Quadrathlon Club (kayak access and swimmer access from the jetty)
- Ancholme Rowing club (Access to leisure centre for rowers by using the jetty, possible launching of boats for events from the Jetty)
- Glanford Boat Club (Mooring, and access to leisure centre for boat users, using the jetty)
- Visiting boats (Mooring and access to leisure centre for boat users, using the jetty)
- Fishermen (fishing off the jetty or new fishing pegs)
- North Lincolnshire Council (Who are gaining an improved sporting facility and gain from opening up access to the leisure centre)
- Environment Agency (who gain from a repaired river bank and better river access)
- Lincolnshire/Humberside Fire Brigade (who have enquired about access to launch a rescue boat)
- British Canoeing (hosting regional events and training events)
This is a major undertaking and we need your help and ideas, and more importantly your support, if we are going to put in the hard work necessary to make this happen. Please try and attend our AGM where more details will be made available and you can have your say.
Thank You.
GSCC’s Management Committee
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