Canoe Wales completes series of 2022 Roadshows

Canoe Wales finished its 2022 series of Roadshow events last night on Wednesday 6 April. Last night’s Zoom event added to a series of face-to-face events at Cardiff, Carmarthen and Plas-y-Brenin.

It was really pleasing to see a total of 98 people attending all the events with members appreciating the option of attending virtually or in person.

Tavi Murray from Seren Dwr Slalom club said: “I went to the Zoom Roadshow… it’s fantastic to have an online session because the local one clashed with our club night so I couldn’t go. I went to the Safeguarding and Coaching breakouts and could ask questions direct to the relevant CW staff. All in all a really good community feeling, good use of time, informal atmosphere, LOW CARBON (no travel needed!), and a good sense of an all-Wales approach. Really useful and very much appreciated.”

Meanwhile, Hugo Keene, Chair of Cardiff Canoe Club said: "Really enjoyed the recent Canoe Wales roadshow, thanks for organising it. It was good to meet everyone face to face and the workshops turned out to be very productive. We look forward to all the new developments and continuing to build on recent successes."

Within the workshops, meeting and hearing from Pete Catterall, our new Coaching & Development Manager, was a popular choice, and Pete focused on understanding some of the challenges and opportunities with the coaching scheme here in Wales.

Following last night’s Zoom session, Pete said: “It's been great to get out and meet so many members face to face and online. The Roadshows have been really useful for me to get the thoughts and feedback from the paddlers, coaches and leaders that are out using the awards.”

Attendees also appreciated the opportunity to attend workshops on development and participation, safeguarding, access and environment, paddling performance, and marketing and member support with other Canoe Wales staff.

Feedback has already been coming in and we have put together this survey to collate views on how we can develop the events for 2023. If you have attended a Roadshow, please complete the survey by 31 May 2022 and be in chance of winning a Palm AP2000 Kayak helmet.

In summary, our CEO, Alistair Dickson said:

"We’ve had a great two weeks travelling around the country, meeting members and hearing their views, culminating in the Zoom session last night. We’d like to thank all attendees for giving up their evenings to come and see us and we really hope you found them useful. 

Anecdotal feedback is promising, with people feeling like we’re going in the right direction. Overall areas of concern seemed in line with our thinking and included demystifying and simplifying the coaching scheme; increasing our education around access and environment, increasing focus on safety, and increasing our support for volunteers and clubs.

We’ll be reaching out again soon as part of our 2024–28 Strategy engagement and consultation process, but we’d really encourage those who couldn’t make it this year to come and see us in 2023."