Who are British Canoeing?

Who are Paddle UK?

Paddle UK is the governing body for Paddlesport within the UK and Purley Canoe Club is “Affiliated to Paddle UK.”

In January 2024 British Canoeing changed its name to Paddle UK and any reference to British Canoeing also refer to Paddle UK.

Paddle UK Affiliated Club

Purley Canoe Club is an Affiliated Paddle UK Club, which is effectively managed by an  Elected Committee,  who work with our Club Coaches, to achieve our Club’s Values, Purpose and Vision

They provide a variety of Paddlesport activities, to achieve our Values,  in accordance with our Constitution.

The Club renews its Affiliation to Paddle UK each year

As an Affiliated Paddle UK Club we support the Paddle UK’s Aims and the following Paddle UK Initiatives:-

We encourage all Club members to Join Paddle UK as individual members  so they can become part of the “Paddle UK Family” and support the work of Paddle UK.

As a Paddle UK Affiliated club We are covered by Paddle UK Indemnity Insurance,  we can seek support from the Paddle UK’s when required; plus :-

  • We are supported by the Paddle UK through our membership of BC’s London Region.
  • We are accredited as a “Paddle UK Quality Club
  • We can seek support from the different departments within Paddle UK, .e.g.:-
  • the Safeguarding team,
  • the Access campaign,
  • the Personal Performance Awards,
  • the Coaching team etc.
  • See below for more details:-

In July 2022 Purley Canoe Club was accredited as a “Paddle UK Quality Club“.

In November 2022 we were accredited as a “Paddle UK Champion Club“.

We celebrated these achievements with a Quality Club Party in November 2022.

Prior to this accreditation Purley Canoe Club (PCC) was awarded Sports England Clubmark accreditation in October 2012.

In January 2013 the Club celebrated its accreditation with a Club Mark Party.

We support “Paddle UK’s Go Paddling” campaign to encourage people to go paddling and we provide courses to achieve the Paddle UK Go Paddling Awards 

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

“We Paddle Together” – is a Paddle UK Strategy to drive forward Equality, Diversity and Inclusion within paddlesport.

The Club fully supports this strategy as part of our Club Values.

British Canoeing have made the following statement regarding these strategies:-

“Paddle UK is committed to ensuring everyone is able to access and enjoy paddlesports, regardless of their identity, background or circumstances, whether they wish to paddle recreationally, represent their Country on the world stage, or give back to the community through coaching or volunteering.”

We introduce young people to paddling  by supporting the  Paddle UK’s Go Paddling campaign, which also encourages young people and their families to participate in paddlesport.

We support Paddle UK’s “Paddleability” campaign which promote’s and encourages disabled people to participate in paddlesport.

We support people to learn how to paddle  by providing a number of Paddle UK courses.

This enables our members to achieve various Paddle UK Personal Performance Awards (PPA).

This also supports the BC’s campaign to promote “Long Term Paddler Development” and encourage members to develop their paddlesport skills.

We support Paddle UK’s “Access” campaign which aims to increase our access rights to rivers within the UK especially in England and Wales where access rights to rivers are often disputed.

As a Club we purchase a number of River licences every year, so Club members have access to rivers on Club Trips.

We encourage all our members to follow the Paddlers Code, in order to enjoy our beautiful waterways responsibly.

We encourage all paddlers to follow the new Paddle UK  “Paddlers Code/ Respect, Protect, Enjoy” 

British Canoeing promotes this code by stating:-

“Discover what the Paddlers’ Code means to paddlers, and how you can use it as a guide to help enjoy our beautiful waterways responsibly.”

We adopt many of the Paddle UK Policies and Procedures which the Paddle UK have developed to ensure all paddlesport activities, within the Club are organised in an efficient, safe and equitable manner.
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Therefore the structure and running of the Club is heavily influenced by the BC. 

These policies and procedure provide a high standard of governance, within the Club, which is managed and maintained by the Club’s Committee, in accordance with our Constitution.

All our Club Coaches are Paddle UK Qualified Coaches, which means the club is a Paddle UK PPA Provider and we can deliver all the Paddle UK Personal Performance Awards

All our Coaches maintain their Coaching qualifications, through the Paddle UK Coaching Update Scheme. 

All our Club Coaches are part of the Paddle UK Coach Update Scheme  to keep their Paddle UK qualifications up to date,  e.g. :- First Aid courses every 3 years; Coaching update courses every 3 years, and other personal Paddle UK paddlesport courses, in order to keep their skills up to date.

This “Paddle UK Coach Update scheme” ensures our Club Coaches provide Safe Club Activities for all our Participants.