This August, a culmination of a lot of hard work came together with young people attending the docks for an Introduction to Rowing session and Summer Picnic.

We partnered with London Youth Rowing to facilitate the programme and worked closely with METRO Youth, a charity providing youth services to LGBT+ young people, to deliver taster sessions directly at youth groups and also to host a group at the Docks!

The Introduction to Rowing session and Picnic took place on Friday 18th August, and saw young people and staff from METRO Youth visit our home at the Royal Docks Watersports Centre where they met members of our club and London Youth Rowing coaches. Over the course of the afternoon they had a tour of our facilities, enjoyed a picnic and got the opportunity to spend some time on the water. Despite being quite windy we had two trips around the dock in LYR’s large Cutter boat which everyone really enjoyed.

It was an amazing day and was a chance to share experiences of being part of both the LGBTQ+ & Rowing community with the young people and sharing the amazing opportunities London Youth Rowing offer young people.

The LORC Youth Outreach Programme was funded by a grant from the LGBTQIA+ Diversity and Inclusion Fund, a partnership between Nike and Out for Sport, designed to help grassroots LGBTQIA+ sports clubs break down barriers to participation for young people and those of diverse ethnic and gender backgrounds. Thanks to all the Otters who were involved to make this happen: Alex J., Michael W., Sky Y., Lau F., Kim G., Alex M., Kate N-R., Reed P. and Yoan G.