At our 2025 Club AGM, Jonathan Males reported on the 2024/25 year, thanking all those who had contributed to the Club’s ongoing success.
” I’m pleased to report on a successful year for our club, that has been enabled by the club members who volunteer to keep sessions safe and coach other members to grow in confidence, by dedicated committee members who give their time and expertise, and by deepening collaboration with our key partners Paddle UK, Lee Valley Whitewater Centre, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and local clubs such as Whoosh Explore, Shepperton, and Viking Kayak Club.
I will leave the detailed Financial Report to our capable Treasurer Marie Bauerova, who has done a magnificent job managing our ingoings and outgoings, supported by our Finance Sub Committee (Carl Upsall, Mark Corti, and myself). I am delighted that our financial situation is stabilising and I’m confident that with continued attention to costs we can maintain our viability. For example, we will again run shorter ‘winter hours’ from December to April, and you will be asked to approve a small regular increase in annual membership fees. Whilst cheaper access to the whitewater course is one benefit of club membership, I hope we can provide value to our members in other ways too – being a member of a thriving and friendly club, access to coaching, river trips, fun sessions and boat storage among them.
We have continued to implement the changes that you asked for in the January 2024 member survey. The storage sheds now have proper lighting, we are offering more coaching, and trips beyond Lee Valley have included a weekend to North Wales, sea kayaking trips in Essex and Dorset, and tours of various rivers in Hertfordshire, Suffolk, and beyond. I’m particularly pleased that there is growing interest in sea kayaking. More trips are planned – please support these ventures as they are great fun and a good way to make new friendships.
Our slalom programme goes from strength to strength. Led by Jake Brown and supported by a team of excellent coaches, we are welcoming young paddlers and their families into the sport. The role of parents is particularly important, and I want to acknowledge the time and resources they contribute, that benefit all paddlers and creates a friendly and supportive atmosphere on the bank. Our young paddlers are developing great skills and achieving good results locally and internationally – but I believe that the most important things we provide youngsters are the opportunities to work towards goals, learn to persevere when things get tough, collaborate with others and enjoy the journey towards excellence. And they can see that canoeing is a life-long sport, as their training partners include club members in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s!
The club hosted the GB slalom selection races in March, and next month we will host the prestigious British Open, which is also an ICF world ranking race, then GB Selection again in March 2026. Thanks to all those members who help run these important national competitions and I encourage any members to get involved, even if you are not a slalom paddler.
Our flatwater racing section is now based at the whitewater centre, having moved from Rammey Island. This is a welcome move and makes it much easier for sessions to run on the Lee Navigation, with access to parking and showers that were very limited at Rammey. We have a great fleet of racing kayaks ready to be used, so if you are interested in developing a new paddling discipline that will improve your balance and fitness for whitewater, this is worth trying out.
Looking ahead, we want to create opportunities for young people living close to the whitewater centre to get on the water. We will offer our first Aquapaddle event on the Lee Navigation (like a 5 km Park Run on the water) in the Autumn. We want to continue to develop our coaching team through subsidised core coach training.
There are vacancies on the committee, (we still need a communications officer to help with social media etc) and you can start by shadowing an existing member, so please step up if you would like to help out. A strong committee is the backbone of a strong club.
Our club is unique – there is no other club in the country (world even?) where members have the opportunity to take part in race rafting, sea kayaking, slalom, whitewater paddling or flatwater racing and touring – and to regularly access the world’s finest whitewater stadium. I personally get great satisfaction seeing so many members enjoying themselves in so many different ways on a busy club night.
Thanks again to our committee members, Directors, coaches, parents, helpers and local partners for making this possible. I’m looking forward to our future with optimism.”
Jonathan Males
LVPC Chair