Accessible Rowing Update

On Tuesday, 25th Feb, FRBC hosted its first Accessible Rowing session for adults. We are running 10 sessions called 'Row the Rhythm,' which are 1.5 hours long and are for people with a visual impairment. 

The course was overbooked with a waitlist. Ten participants took up the rowing challenge, with some travelling from Cambridge, Ipswich and another from Herts, which indicates the huge need and desire for people with a disability to access inclusive physical activity opportunities. 

The first session was expertly run by Coaches Leo and Ollie with Volunteer Coach Charlotte, who herself has a visual impairment. The Coaches were backed up by an excellent Adult Member volunteer team of Penny, Julia, Federico, Bryan, and Chris, who not only helped make participants feel at home but helped to orientate around FRBC and guided them to and from Hammersmith station.

The first Row the Rhythm session involved getting to know each other, orientating around FRBC and to the river, learning about the river, exploring the different parts of a boat whilst on trestles and having a go on the ergs in the February sunshine. We finished off with a cuppa, debrief, biscuits and cuddles with dogs, Scramble and Biscuit, before heading back to Hammersmith tube station with our happy participants.
 
One of the participants said: “I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your amazing support yesterday. It was absolutely fantastic, especially considering it was just our first session! I’m sure we’ll continue to improve over the next few sessions.”
 
Huge thanks to our brilliant volunteers, coaches, and staff, who helped to make this Accessible Rowing session at FRBC such a success.

Below is a picture of our VI participants learning to use the rowing machines outside FRBC in the sunset.