Changed winter hours
The General Committee of the Club has reviewed the recent survey results, and we will move to winter hours of 7.00 pm to 8.30 pm in January.
Bank Safety will work in two, 45-minute shifts.
The cost of a 90-minute session will be £10 for the Legacy and £15 for the Olympic.
We realise that some people will not want to paddle for the full time, or may start late, so we hope that a single fee will keep things simple and encourage more people to paddle through winter. We anticipate keeping these hours in place till the end of February and reverting to 2 hours in March, starting at 6.30 pm.
Winter Bank Safety
We will continue to work in two shifts but these will be shorter than summer hours. Time on the bankside will be 45 minutes not 1 hour.
Shift 1: Arrive onsite no later than 6.45 pm to collect trolleys and radios and be bankside by 6.55 pm. Remember the pumps cannot be turned on until our safety volunteers are in place. If you are late, the whole session will be late too.
Shift 2: 7.45 pm, take over on bankside through to 8.30 pm, then please return radios and trolleys.
Club Radios
The Club has purchased its own bank safety radios. From January, Bank Safety volunteers should collect and return radios from the Club Reception Desk, NOT the LVWWC reception. Please continue to be careful with the radios, and especially avoid dropping them in the water! We have made this change because of the loss or damage cost liability on hiring radios.
Survey Results
Thank you to everyone who responded to the recent Club Survey. The General Committee considered the results at length and agreed:
We will trial winter hours of 7.00 pm to 8.30 pm, initially for January and February. We will assess how this works and decide whether to apply these hours again for winter 25/26.
Outside of winter hours we will retain core hours of 6.30 to 8.30 pm, with two sessions available. The Committee concluded that a later finish time was problematic for more members and should be avoided.
We will stick to Wednesdays for Club Nights.
We will offer occasional (about monthly) summer Sunday afternoon sessions. Dates to be advised.
Volunteering
We considered a suggestion to allow Club Members to pay to opt out of Bank Safety volunteerng. There was a strong view amongst the General Committee that volunteering is part of the club’s ethos and helps build our community, and that paying for bank safety would run counter to this. We appreciate that standing on the bank is not the same fun as paddling! It does however allow Club Members to reduce the cost of regular paddling.
If we had an even spread of volunteers, it would mean doing one bank safety session every 8 weeks. Please factor this into your plans and help keep the Club safe and fun on the water.
Club Paddling Atmosphere
Our members have a wide range of experience and many travel long distances to LVWWC to paddle on Wednesday evenings. It’s great to see paddlers making the most of the whitewater and paddling hard. HOWEVER, the atmosphere can be intimidating for less experienced Club Members, especially those new to the Olympic course. Please stay aware of other paddlers, give them space to enjoy themselves, avoid cutting in front or jostling in eddies. Let’s all do our best to create a fun and safe paddling experience.
Winter recreational trips
While our whitewater access drops over mid-winter, there are still great opportunities to get on the water with the Club. Please check out the recreational programme of river trips on SPOND. These are very sociable and seem to always include a stop at a pub!
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Thanks to all Club Members who serve on the committee, as bank safety volunteers and as coaches.
Your contribution keeps the Club going!
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Our last session of the year is 11th December and we start again on 8th January.
I hope every Club Member has a relaxing and restful Christmas break.
Jonathan Males
LVPC Chair
8th December 2024