Established 1865
The one-hundred and fifty eighth annual general meeting of Clyde Amateur Rowing Club will be held at 19:00 on 10 October 2022 at The West Boathouse, Glasgow Green, Glasgow.
Clyde Amateur Rowing Club is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) registered with the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator (OSCR), number SC050168. Clyde ARC was established in Glasgow, in 1865 and incorporated as a SCIO in 2020.
No motions have been received as of 2023-10-05 for the consideration of the meeting, but this webpage will be updated if and when any are submitted to the AGM.
President’s Report 2023
Clyde Amateur Rowing Club exists to enable its members to participate in rowing both for sport and recreation. We aim to make rowing, and access to the River Clyde at the heart of the City of Glasgow, open to all, ranging from complete beginners to elite athletes. The last twelve months have been another year of major changes for Clyde. With the complications to running a rowing club during a pandemic apparently well behind us, early 2023 would see the completion of one of the largest projects in the club’s history: the restoration of the West Boathouse. We are much indebted to Glasgow Buildings Preservation Trust for delivering the project, and saving the boathouse, along with the many kind benefactors they assembled to fund the renovation.
When I delivered my last report, in 2022, I predicted that we would be returning to our own boathouse in a few weeks’ time. While this prediction turned-out to be rather optimistic, our return to the building in late April 2023 was handled smoothly and with skill by our members. Their efforts both in making the boathouse our home again, and in adapting to the change in circumstances now that we cohabit with two other clubs, are to be lauded. The new boathouse is a step-change in quality of facilities for the club, with modern boat racking substantially improving the safety of boats and of boat-handling, while the new weights gym will allow us to broaden the range of programmes we can offer to our members.
The new facilities have also allowed us to provide a much better experience to new rowers, while also acting as an impressive advertisement for the sport. We have welcomed many members of the public to try rowing over the summer, and an impressive fraction of them have decided to become members, returning our membership to pre-pandemic levels. While I have no doubt that my colleague James, in his role as captain, will wish to provide more detail, it is very clear to me that there is a vitality about the club which is repaying the hard efforts of the club over the last five years. We now regularly have three sessions a week which are well-attended, and during the summer we had several evenings where multiple quads were on the water. I can’t remember a time that was possible while I’ve been a member of the club.
The larger number of people attending sessions, and the larger number of sessions has meant that we’ve seen many of our new members progress rapidly in both confidence and ability. We now stand in a strong position to build on our successes from last season and continue Clyde’s regrowth as a competitive club as well as one which caters for the broader rowing community. Not only have we seen beginners come on leaps and bounds, but also our more experienced members. Here I must single-out two of our members, Stephen and Gauthier, who took on coaching roles with our new members this year. I am very pleased to say that the club has been able to fund coaching courses for three of our members: Stephen, Gauthier, and myself, to consolidate their new-found experience.
The growth in membership has also put our fleet under some degree of strain, and we have resumed a programme of repairs for our boats to provide a more flexible offering for members. This has seen the learners’ double restored after being damaged in storage, and one of our singles sent for renovation. In the coming months there are several other boats and pieces of equipment which will require maintenance, and while I hope that we can make good use of any days when it is not possible to row this winter to make incremental repairs and improvements.
With the disruption of returning to the boathouse at the start of the summer we had limited opportunities for community engagement in the early part of the year, however we have started to build our adult beginners programme throughout the summer, and I am hopeful that we can take the momentum which we have gained from this and convert it into both organised engagement and recruitment activities in the next year.
A few years ago we made the conscious decision to focus on building the club as the most accessible and inclusive in Glasgow. I think I can confidently say that we have succeeded in this, raising the question, where do we go from here? I hope that this is a question we can start to answer today, but I have absolute faith that not only will we plot an exciting new route for the club in the next twelve months, but we will also make the best of everything we encounter as we carry it out. It has been a pleasure serving as president for another year, and I am proud of just how far we’ve come in the last year.
—Daniel Williams (President 2022-2023)
The long-term efforts towards the renovation of the West Boathouse were realised in Spring 2023 and followed by a well-attended ‘Grand Opening’ in May. Through the hard work of many club members, we successfully relocated boats, training equipment, and memorabilia into our renovated Boathouse. I would like to thank all those that gave up their time to make this happen! Clyde has run several beginner sessions since moving back in, making great use of the West Boathouse. Approximately 40 people have had the opportunity to try rowing as part of these sessions. Through these sessions we have increased our membership and improved access to rowing for many Glaswegians. I am particularly proud of the progress that has been made by the many beginners that have joined during the year.
The Club successfully held the Clyde Head of the River Races in October 2022 and the Clyde Power Sprints in May 2023, the latter marking the first regatta hosted by any club from the renovated West Boathouse. We would like to thank all those that contributed to the success of these events by taking part or volunteering their time.
Whilst I am sad to be moving on from Glasgow, I am heartened by the position the Club is in and look forward to hearing about future successes, of which I am sure there will be many.
The annual financial report can be downloaded as a PDF document.
+ Figure head of the club
+ Non-rowing liaisons with other clubs & West Boathouse Management Committee
+ May attend meetings on behalf of the club
+ Can attend hospitality areas at events
+ Coordinating annual returns to OSCR
+ Supporting roles to President
+ Point of contact for other clubs (rowing related)
+ Boat allocation
+ Organising trailering for events
+ Submitting race entries
+ Coaching
+ Setting training programmes
+ Setting crews for races
+ Organising sessions with beginners/novices who need supervision
+ General financial oversight
+ Financial reporting
+ Banking, book keeping and record keeping
+ Point of contact for all financial transactions
+ Sponsorship
+ Coordinating event finances
+ Organising cash float for hosted events
+ Organising and minuting meetings, and setting meeting agendas
+ Point of contact for other clubs (non-rowing related)
+ Communication and correspondence
+ Maintaining email distribution lists in compliance with GDPR
+ Maintaining the register of trustees of the charity
+ Boathouse upkeep and maintenance/repair
+ Boat upkeep and maintenance/repair
These roles are normally held alongside another position on the committee, and can be held by any committee member.
+ Promoting safe practice
+ Completing water incident report forms
+ Submitting water safety audit to Scottish Rowing
+ Uphold the policies outlined by Scottish Rowing
+ Social media and web site administration
+ Keeping social media and web site up to date with the latest news and event details
The Clyde Star is an award conferred by the Club on a member whose efforts and conduct have gone above and beyond both in the sport of rowing and within the club. The MVP of Clyde, as it were. Any member can be nominated. Stephen Edge was awarded the Clyde Star in 2022.
The positions listed in the above section will normally act as trustees of the Charity. Under law you cannot become a Trustee of Clyde if:
Details about the duties which are expected of Charity Trustees can be found on the website of the Scottish Charities Regulator, OSCR, here.