New Boathouse

Progress Report June 2012

Falcon RCC has long experience in making provision for local rowing, kayaking and canoeing. We provide and coach, boating for eight years olds up to and including people well beyond retirement -our Super Seniors.

Falcon is an open club without any restrictions as to membership overt or veiled. We are host to one of the first of Sport England's suggested 'satellite clubs' club formed with a local comprehensive school. We also host the Oxford Bangladeshi Boat Club - the first such in Europe. Disabled people's rowing and canoeing both started in Oxford with Falcon and in 1869 Falcon was the first rowing club in Oxford that admitted women.

However, our present boathouse is now too small, too old and ill equipped to let us keep on growing, soon we will to start rationing what we do.

We propose a replacement boat house to be called the Oxford Community and Covenant Boathouse. The 'covenant' part coming from our efforts to form links with local armed forces personnel and their families. From such a building we could keep on expanding what we do with the Oxford community and hopefully with the military and their families.

A report on our fundraising so far.

With the help of Oxford City Council we gained planning permission but in the year of the banking crash, an unfortunate date to start looking for grants. Nevertheless we started.

The situation as of now, June 2012.

Finding a first funder has proved difficult.

Two charities have helped, their generosity and vision, even together, have not proved sufficient to get a major funding ball rolling.

Applications for funds are being sent out regularly with the common response that grant givers are more than willing to help to match funds already given but not to be the first to write a big cheque. We will keep searching.

Good news. The Queen's Award for Volunteers 2012

This year the club's volunteers received The Queen's Award for Volunteers, the UK's most prestigious award in the field of voluntary provision. Falcon being one of only two sports clubs nationwide so honoured this year.

The boathouse fundraising team believes this top-notch award will enhance our fundraising profile and help speed the boathouse into existence.

The Falcon boathouse funding team will be redoubling its efforts. You can help.

Donations to the boathouse are welcomed.

Cheques made to FRCC Charitable Trust.

Posted to -

Community Covenant Boathouse Appeal

Boathouse Appeal Team

c/o 3 Fane Rd, Marston, Oxford. OX3 0RZ

Inter bank transfers to;

Falcon RCC Charitable Trust

The Coventry, sort code 40-63-01 account 63270963

Progress Report January 2011

Since Falcon Rowing & Canoeing Club won planning permission for the proposed replacement boathouse at the end of the summer of 2010, the club's boathouse working party have worked hard on the project. They have concentrated on finalising the list of distinguished patrons. Patrons lend their names to projects like the boathouse as a token of their support, giving the fundraisers credibility and contacts; both vital in projects of this size.

The Patrons are:

Tim Stevenson OBE, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire

The Lord Major of Oxford

Rt Hon Andrew Smith MP

Professor Janet Beer, Vice Chancellor Oxford Brookes University

Ed McKeever, Kayak World Champion 2010

The working party and club committee thank the patrons for their invaluable support.

We are also pleased to welcome Oxford Brookes University, the most aggressively successful rowing university in the UK, as a partner in the project. Students from Brookes' will, from next summer 2011, be invited to join in coaching as part of Falcons' outreach programme and in the fullness of time to increase their involvement as coaches from our new building. FBC will act as talent spotters for Brookes, directing local young people to Brookes, informing them of the support the university can and wants to offer them.

The boathouse working party is presently involved in writing the bids for grants and has completed and submitted a first bid, two more are progressing, other funding sources are being identified. (Members of Falcon are reminded that should they want to do some freelance fund-finding, that they first clear their activity with the boathouse fundraisers so we keep our ducks in a line!)

In addition, to bids, business and sports development plans are being compiled. Both involve detailed close work, and a great deal of time. However, they are shaping up well and will be finished by the end of January 2011.

Currently negotiations are in hand on extending our site lease from 21 to 99 years, a prerequisite for the big funders.

We continue to have a very pleasing measure of local support from our neighbours in East Oxford and from the officers and councillors of Oxford City Council.

Note to local members: As part of the FBC contact with local groups we are requested to suggest a nature trail suitable for following in open canoes, this for local schools, school children and their parents, should anyone in the club want to write it? Just tell someone on the committee.

Peter Travis

President FBC