Fulham reach boat club
# Fulham reach boat club

Fulham Reach Boat Club (FRBC), was opened on 24th October 2014 by Steve O’Connor and David Fitzherbet, following a Section 106 agreement between the local borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and property developers St George, to create a new charity community-focused boat club with the mission of ‘Rowing for All’.

## History

In the first year, the charitable focus was to give local state school children access to the Thames and the chance to learn to row as part of their PE curriculum. By the end of 2015, four local schools and more than 400 children had been given the chance to experience the sport. Over the next nine years, FRBC continued to grow it’s impact within the community and today it now welcomes up to 18 schools from across the local area to participate in rowing, getting up to 1,000 children on the water each year, in addition to junior and adult club members.

In 2019, Fulham Reach Boat Club pioneered it’s innovative prison rehabilitation programme Boats Not Bars. This programme, delivered by World Champion Rower Imogen Walsh, has now grown to work with 7 prisons and over 100 prison residents. Fulham Reach Boat Club also supports prisoners with reintegration into society on release. Also 2019 saw FRBC launch it’s Free Water Sports Week over the summer holidays, in an effort to tackle ‘holiday hunger’. These courses are free to attend for any pupil around the Pupil Premium threshold and include a full week of rowing, kayaking, boxing, classroom sessions and inspirational speakers. Crucially, each course also provides three meals a day for every participant, all free of charge. These courses have now grown to help more than 100 of the most needy children in our community every year and won British Rowing ‘Project of the Year’ in 2021.

In 2020, during the height of the covid-19 pandemic, FRBC launched Strava Boat Club Challenge as a means of keeping the local community and helping the wider rowing community connected and engaged in managing their physical and mental health. Strava Boat Club Challenged attracted 32 rowing clubs to take part and over 2,500 participants.

The charity is run by an expert team of coaches, staff and volunteers, led by the CEO, Adam Freeman-Pask and the Chair, David Fitzherbet.

## Honours & Awards

2020 British Rowing Club of the Year.

2021 British Rowing Club of the Year.

2021 British Rowing Project of the Year.

2022 London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Inclusive Project Award.

* ↑ https://worldrowing.com/2019/07/31/into-rowing-boats-and-out-from-behind-bars/
* ↑ https://juniorrowingnews.com/empowering-prisoners-through-rowing-inside-the-boats-not-bars-initiative/
* ↑ https://www.fulhamreachboatclub.co.uk/strava-boat-club
