Laburnum Boat Club, a charity on the Regent's Canal in Hackney, uses water sports to build wellbeing and self-esteem in up to 2,000 children a year, many of them hard to reach or living with a disability. It is one of five charities backed by the Standard's £500,000 Sporting Chance campaign, which champions sports coaching and mentoring for disadvantaged young Londoners.
Founded in 1983, the club offers kayaking, canoeing, stand-up paddleboarding and narrowboat skippering. It has received a £62,500 grant from the Standard's Dispossessed Fund, administered by The London Community Foundation. A further £250,000 has been pledged to fund school sports programmes delivered by campaign partner Greenhouse Sports.
From anxious child to medal-winning coach
Elsa, now 16, first came to the club at 11, when her parents enrolled her on a holiday scheme. Suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, she felt intense distress at the thought of leaving the house and trying a new experience she could not control.
“I had visions of capsizing the kayak, falling into the water and getting a face full of algae,” she said. “But my parents said they had to work, so I agreed to go on condition they wrote to Laburnum explaining how terrified I was of going on the water. When the day arrived, Dom, the lead youth worker, took me out with him in a canoe. I thought he would be all frantic and uptight because of my letter, but he was totally calm and unfazed by my fears.”
By the end of the day, Elsa felt so relaxed and safe that she was jumping into the Regent's Canal. She went home and told her mum, “I love it”, and returned every day that summer. Five years later, she is employed part-time by Laburnum, has won a silver medal in the Under-17 Kayak Slalom at the London Youth Games, and has become a confident young woman and leader.
Life skills on the water
The club has more than 80 canoes, kayaks and paddleboards and hosts 7,000 visits a year, most from young people aged 12 to 21 living in areas of high deprivation. It employs 22 full-time and part-time staff, 90 per cent of whom have lived experience.
Elsa passed her Paddle UK Coach Assessment while studying for her GCSEs, becoming Laburnum's youngest-ever qualified kayak coach. Next year she hopes to study music production at a music and arts college.
Nadekah, 21, first came to the club at 17 to complete her Duke of Edinburgh Award. She is now a part-time coach. “I thought I'd just go through the motions, but when I got here, something unexpected happened,” she said. “At school, I was a quiet girl with dyslexia who never risked speaking up for fear of embarrassing myself, whereas at Laburnum I was thrust into leadership positions that were a massive shock to the system.”
Nadekah, who is studying design at university, said the lessons she learned on the water are transferable to life. “It made me more responsible. I learned that if you set yourself a goal, you are more likely to achieve it if you plan for it and manage your time properly.”
The campaign has raised £500,000 so far, with £250,000 going to Greenhouse Sports programmes in London and £250,000 to four other youth charities, including Laburnum Boat Club. The Standard is calling on corporations, foundations, philanthropists and readers to donate.
