Sport England-funded boat house for Staunton Harold Sailing Club
by Ann Nugent 21 Sep 2015 14:26 BST
4-5 July 2015
Heather Wheeler, MP for South Derbyshire, officially opens Staunton Harold Sailing Club's new boat house © Ann Nugent
Heather Wheeler, Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire joined Staunton Harold Sailing Club (SHSC) members to officially open the club's new Boat House and refurbished training facilities.
The newly completed Boat House has been built thanks to a Sport England, Inspired Facilities grant of £56,000, which was awarded to SHSC to expand and improve its training facilities. The grant has also funded the refurbishment and modernisation of the club's existing training room and additionally provided the financing to lengthen the training slipway thereby ensuring access to the water at low water. These additions and improvements mark Staunton Harold Sailing Club's ongoing commitment to training and sailing excellence for all.
Commenting on the new Boat House, Heather Wheeler, MP for South Derbyshire said: "It gives me great pleasure to officially open this new Sport England, Inspired Facilities funded Boat House and refurbished training facilities. Globally, Great Britain is winning sailing awards and it is this type of investment - at grassroots level that ensures the sport is accessible within our local community, both for those who aspire to gold medal success and for those who simply enjoy or want to try sailing."
Lesley Foskett, Commodore of SHSC commented: "We are delighted that Heather Wheeler could join us to officially open our new facilities. Sailing training is an integral part of the club's activities and is essential to introducing people to the enjoyment and skills of dinghy sailing. SHSC offers courses for novices (junior and adults) to learn to sail and for more experienced club sailors there are courses to develop their sailing skills. As such this investment will help to ensure that all aspects of the club are brought up to the highest quality."
The official opening followed on from an amazing SHSC hosted Bart's Bash event, which saw some 77 boats competing, sailed by sailors aged from under 10 to over 80. This great event saw our sailors having fun out on the water, with lots of banter between the boats, as people enjoyed racing with a social buzz. Whilst everyone was a winner on the day, Peter Gray and Richard Pepperdine were first over the finish line, with close competition from Tim Gray who came second and James Wilson who finished third.
Globally this year's Bart's Bash saw some 9,165 participants sailing at 468 venues in 62 different countries, raising money for the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation. The charity was set up in 2013 to honour the life and legacy of Andrew 'Bart' Simpson MBE, Olympic Gold & Silver medallist and America's Cup Sailor it aims to use sailing to transform the lives of young people and encourage participation in sailing.
www.shsc.org.uk