Under normal circumstances we would have taken a team to the National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships in London. This amazing event is organised by our good friends at London Youth  Rowing (LYR). Sadly, they did not feel confident enough to stage the event given the shadow of Covid that was still lurking. They did though organise a virtual event that eventually attracted well over 7000 entries. All of our schools took part, with Padgate entering well over 100 pupils, and it was a great success. LYR also ran their indoor rowing league for schools anywhere in the world and it was good to see Padgate regularly in the top 3 schools.

The year also included negotiations to start Greater Manchester Youth Rowing to be based at Agecroft Rowing Club. This exciting addition will begin in September 2022 and will aim to work with six local schools.

As a charity we were involved in a conference to encourage the development of further outreach rowing projects. It was called Rocking the Boat and was a collaboration between Henley Royal Regatta Charitable Trust, London Youth Rowing and ourselves. It was a great success and the waves it created will be felt for years to come. Details can be found on the Henley Regatta website.

In addition, Liverpool John Moores University launched a study into the effectiveness of the Youth Rowing Project. They have been interviewing pupils, coaches, teachers and school principals with regularly over the last year. The first evidence of their results will be released in October 2022 at the second Rocking the Boat Conference.

Our competitions were back on the calendar after the havoc wreaked by the pandemic, with both indoor and outdoor events attracting large numbers of competitors. The Indoor Championships, based at Birchwood, saw almost 300 youngsters from 19 state schools taking part, including our 2 SEND schools.

September in 2021 was almost a fresh start for our Youth Rowing Projects. The cloud of Covid, although still lurking in the background, was starting to evaporate.

Embarking on their 6th year in the scheme the Warrington Schools swiftly got back into the swing of things. The youngsters were soon back on the river Mersey, learning a new set of skills that would hopefully, enhance their lives further down the line. Two of our schools valued the scheme so highly that they requested a second session for their new year 9 pupils as they had a Covid interrupted year previously. We were pleased to enrol The Kings Academy, Woolston into our ranks; they are a welcome addition as their school is located within a short distance of WRC.

Mersey Youth Rowing was almost a relaunch with a new cohort of schools taking part. This included a couple of SEND Schools, Clare Mount who are within a mile of the Vics boathouse and Clifford Holroyd based in Liverpool. The location of Clifford Holroyd means that it is quicker for them to get to Warrington Rowing Club and they are enjoying their sessions on the Mersey but they are very firmly under the MYR banner! North Liverpool Academy continue to be strong believers in our project and opted for three sessions a week. The coaching team for MYR is our youngest and they continue to amaze with their energy and willingness to adapt to new ideas and challenges. One of the challenges they face is working on a commercial dock and it’s not uncommon for rowing activity to be stopped to allow for ocean going ships to be docked.

Northwich Youth Rowing was virtually a relaunch with a new group of schools taking part. These new schools included Sandbach Lodge, a unit that works with challenging children. One group of pupils they presented us with were Afghan Refugees. Needless to say, language was a problem, but the coaching team managed to find a way and the smiles from a group of lads that had arrived from the desert was just reward. Knutsford continue to be very enthusiastic and their reward for finding a way to continue in the previous year, was to be awarded the 2021 Roger Chicken Trophy for the best school in the Youth Rowing project.

The New Year brought with it a new lockdown and all school activity was suspended till March 8th. By the end of March all the schools were back in training and aiming for the summer regatta on July 7th.

The story in Liverpool was changing rapidly. Due to ongoing problems at the Liverpool Watersports Centre, it was decided that the best thing to do would be to relocate to the Birkenhead side of the river and base our operation at Liverpool Victoria Rowing Club. This modern facility would allow us to keep our water and indoor rowing programmes based at the same facility and be a much better experience for the children involved. The move and the situation with Covid meant that 3 of our original Liverpool Schools felt that they could no longer continue to support the scheme. MYR was now left with North Liverpool Academy and De La Salle, they were though, in theory joined by Fazackerly.

Another Covid fuelled lockdown started on the 5th November but WYR managed to carry on as it’s activity was deemed to be an educational activity. During this time, New Horizons (later to become Kassia Academy), a Pupil Referral Unit joined the programme. This was a new direction for WYR and one they were keen to explore. During the last week of the Autumn Term a Capsize Drill was organised and attended by all the schools.

September heralded the start of a new academic year, one that was to be different in so many ways. Covid-19 had ravaged the country and schools were unsure of the way forward. In Warrington, there was an established framework and this enabled 7 of our schools to venture back onto the water. By the Autumn Half Term they were all on the water and progressing well. Sadly 2 of our schools had dropped out of the project, citing problems with staffing levels in relation to Covid issues.

Northwich Youth Rowing was scheduled to start in September 2020 with 6 schools showing initial interest. This number reduced as Covid rampaged through the country and became the number one priority in school life, putting our programme on the back burner. Knutsford Academy though were very keen and made a start at Northwich Rowing Club on the River Weaver in early October 2020. Negotiations have carried on with other schools in their catchment area and there is a lot of interest for September 2021. NRC have been gearing up and with the generous help of Swift Boats they have 2 recreational quads. Bristol City Rowing Club also kindly donated a recreational coxed double. They can now boat 13 youngsters and are well placed to maximise the opportunities for the schools as they join the programme.

Sadly, this year also saw us having to temporarily close our doors, along with so many other organisations in light of the COVID-19 global pandemic, during the government prescribed lockdown.

However, this didn’t stop us continuing to make great plans for the future and we were delighted to announce that the Henley Royal Regatta Charitable Trust (HRRCT) agreed further funding to facilitate the launch of Northwich Youth Rowing in September 2020.

These two days led wonderfully onto NJIRC – the National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships at The Copper Box in London. 26 of our children (from both Warrington and Mersey) got the early train to London to use their newly learned indoor rowing skill to compete at a national level. A great experience for all with some brilliant results – most notably in the Year 8 Boys category with Mersey’s Kevin Dos Santos coming in a fantastic third place!

This year also saw our young people compete for their schools in our annual indoor rowing championships (held at Birchwood High School Sports Hall for Warrington Youth Rowing and Cardinal Heenan School for Mersey Youth Rowing). In total, twenty two schools and nearly 400 young rowers took part and had a great time!

Unfortunately the Watersports Centre had to close shortly after we started to be refurbished. This has been a dent in our plans but not a fatal blow, our hardworking coaches now take a bank of ergs to our partner schools which include North Liverpool Academy, De La Salle, Cardinal Heenan, Archbishop Beck and St Hildas. This was the case until the Watersports Centre in Liverpool reopened in March.