Papercourt Sailing Club crowned RYA Club of the Year
The Surrey club named worthy winners of the 2013 RYA Club of the Year Award at the RYA Dinghy Show.
Papercourt SC’s enormous success in securing a legacy for sailing in the local area following the purchase of the lake on which the club has sailed for 50 years saw the Surrey club named worthy winners of the 2013 RYA Club of the Year Award at the RYA Dinghy Show.
The RYA presents the annual award in recognition of clubs who excel at promoting the sport of sailing, encouraging people on to the water and making their activities varied and accessible to the community. Clubs also must show good governance and management and encourage new members and volunteers.
The awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of the people who work to create vibrant clubs in the UK, without whom clubs would not exist and certainly wouldn’t offer the range or quality of activities, which is crucial to the continued success of clubs and the sport.
Shortlist of five
Papercourt SC was among the shortlist of five finalist clubs, which also featured Felpham SC (West Sussex), Holywood YC (Co. Down), Staunton Harold SC (Derbyshire), and Notts County SC (Nottinghamshire). All finalists were invited onto the Dinghy Show stage to receive a plaque as RYA CEO, Sarah Treseder, provided a summary of each of their achievements.
But it was the scale of the challenge and achievement in demonstrating the exceptional ability to bring club members together to buy the 45 acres lake from previous landlords, Cemex, while continuing to run a full and varied programme of events that particularly impressed the judges and saw Papercourt SC named overall 2013 RYA Club of the Year.
More than 20 members of Papercourt SC were at Alexandra Palace to see Commodore, Peter Wadham, and Vice Commodore, Frank Brown, receive the award from the British Sailing Team’s Kate Macgregor and RYA CEO Sarah Treseder.
"The plaque and trophy will take pride of place in the clubhouse"
Peter said: “I was so proud to receive the RYA Club of the Year 2013 on behalf of all our members. This success is down to them, the people who enabled this to happen with all their hard work, dedication and belief in the club.
“The plaque and trophy will take pride of place in the clubhouse. I look forward to helping us build on what we have achieved in 2012, ensuring we continue to provide the training, racing and social activities we all enjoy and bringing more people into the sport. Our greatest achievement is to have such a happy, thriving and successful family friendly club.”
To buy the lake money was raised from members, with written support given by many residents, councillors and three local MPs.
Alongside this ongoing project in 2012, 300 local people attended the club’s Open Day in May with many going on to become members. Racing and training were held all year round and more than 60 people with disabilities continued to enjoy Sailability sessions.
The club’s vibrant youth section had 160 young people signed up for training, which was up 40 per cent on the previous year, while no fewer than 10 of the club’s young sailors were selected for the Optimist, Topper and Feva RYA Zone squads.
While Papercourt SC may have walked off with the top prize, the scale and breadth of achievements of the other four finalists also served as a reminder of the incredible work that is going on nationwide to enable the sport of sailing and the nation’s clubs to flourish.
"The RYA Club of the Year is about recognising the excellent work they are doing and celebrating it"
Jon White, RYA Sport Development Manager, explained: “We have a fantastic network of around 1,200 affiliated clubs in this country who are doing some fantastic things for their local communities and for sailing. The RYA Club of the Year is about recognising the excellent work they are doing and celebrating it.”
A successful 2012, during which it made the most of capitalising on the London 2012 buzz and laying the foundations to build on the Olympic legacy, saw Staunton Harold SC shortlisted for RYA Club of the Year for the second successive year. The club also won the national Sport and Recreation Alliance ‘Green Thinking’ Award, having embarked on an eco-friendly programme of facility modernization and improvement.
Notts County SC boosted participation with a range of innovative and inclusive activities while membership held steady at over 1,000, all underpinned by a sustainable plan for growth. Activities that captured the imagination included the ‘Last of the Summer Winers’, a group of retirees who meet weekly, and a new ‘Ladies who Launch’ women’s group.
Felpham SC has an astonishing number of activities on offer, with a growing youth section. The club has a strong emphasis on getting new people into sailing through Open Days and activities with other local organisations, and the club’s activities have helped double the number of young and new sailors at Felpham SC as well as more women sailors.
Meanwhile, RYA Northern Ireland Club of the Year, Holywood YC, works hard to get new people interested in the sport, including running taster session for schools and presenting to local organisations and businesses that run staff team building at the club.
More information about RYA Club of the Year Award and each of the finalists