STOURPORT Boat Club are appealing to raise funds to replace their deteriorating landing stage on the eve of the club’s annual regatta.
The concrete landing stage at Stourport is causing damage to the club’s equipment and is in urgent need of an upgrade.
And current club captain Stewart Barnett estimates the club would need to raise around £25k to provide a temporary solution.
Barnett is currently in the process of setting up a specific fund which would go towards the cost of a new landing stage.
Barnett said: “We’re a community club and we’re really in a growth phase at the moment.
“The landing stage is just a major issue at the moment, it’s damaging equipment and there’s a lot more people going out on the water.
“There’s two options. The first option, which would work as a summer solution, would be to get a functional floating landing stage for between £20k and £25k.
“The difficulty then is when the river rises it will keep pulling the landing stage in.
“The ultimate solution would be north of £150k. That’s big money, that would be high in the sky at this juncture unless we could get a major sponsor on board.
“That would involve putting two sets of steps together and as the river rises you could keep the boats off it and we’d have a different landing stage as well.
“I’ve been captain for two years and I’ve been with the club for 40 years. I’m trying to set up a specific fund for the landing stage.”
The club currently has around 150 members and will celebrate their 150th anniversary in 2026.
Stourport’s senior women’s crew qualified for this year’s Henley Royal Regatta for the first time in the club’s history while the men just missed out.
And 65-year-old masters athlete Duncan Gwillam won gold at the Henley Masters Regatta in his age category.
The club will also be heading to the World Rowing Masters Regatta in Banyoles, Spain later this year.
And with Stourport currently in a growth phase, Barnett admits accepting new members is becoming a challenge owing to the need for more coaches and equipment.
Barnett added: “I’ve had a further 15 people wanting to learn to row and it means we need to get more coaches and more boats, it’s a nice problem to have but it’s quite difficult.
“It would be massive for the club [a new landing stage], it would allow us to get more people on the water.
“The main problem with the landing stage is damage to equipment because we’ve got a concrete landing stage which is at the wrong height.
“The oars are made of carbon fibre and as the boats come in they get dragged across this horrible concrete.
“It would be massive for the club in terms of looking after the equipment and the juniors will be able to get out on to it easier and lift the boats on to it easier.
“It’s also physically challenging for the older guys to get on the water, a new landing stage would make it much easier for that section of the community to get onto the water.”
The club’s annual regatta also takes place this weekend on August 9 and 10.
For more information or to make a donation contact Stewart Barnett at: [email protected] or call: 07975732500
