Norwich Canoe Club are a Paddle-Ability Sprint Talent Club partner and we are always striving toincrease the paddle-ability knowledge and expertise within the Club. We have had regular visits fromdisability groups such as Sportability and BUILD, and we have a number of paddle-ability members at theClub. In fact their inspiring stories were featured on the BBC documentary and can be viewedhere: https://norwichcanoeclub.co.uk/how-to-join/disability/ So we used the Introduction to Paddle-Ability module as part of a longer day of Paddle-Ability coachdevelopment. We began with the module and I had borrowed 5 wheelchairs from the Red Cross to give anopportunity to explore transfers and to experience the challenges faced by wheelchairs users aroundWhitlingham Boathouses. And of course, being a racing club we had some races as well. It was a greathands on experience for the coaches who spent most of the morning in the wheelchairs - sitting in themto watch the presentations, including a film I had made of the a Paddle-Ability group visiting the club, someof the eLearning and wheeling themselves to the breakout areas. Because of the potential physicaldisability bias of having the wheelchairs, we made absolutely certain we covered the wide range ofdisabilities as outlined in the course materials. Everyone in the group could claim some sort of impairmentwhich made for revealing discussions and everyone could share their experience of learning difficulties,autism, ADHD and other disabilities they had come across. We explored what the Paddle-Ability SprintTalent Club Partnership meant to Norwich Canoe Club and the outreach ideas developed when Charlie andRoger visited recently from British Canoeing.

Hear from Norwich Canoe Club who have been running theNEW Introduction to Paddle-Ability workshop

At the end of the three hour module, the coaches went on the water in the new club Va’r. After that weinvited a paddle-ability member who has just joined the club to come down - she has arthritic wrists. Thisenabled her to meet more of the Club coaches and then they all took her for a paddle towards the Citycentre, some paddling canoe with her and others the new disability Viper 55s. She loved the experience andis such an enthusiastic character that it was a great way to end the day. The Red Cross were unbelievablyhelpful but I could only fit 5 wheelchairs in my car - it would have been great to have had one for everyone. On a warmer day it would have been good to have practised the transfers outside and into an actual canoerather than the mock up barriers we had created upstairs. Extending the module into something practicalon the water felt a satisfying way to give the coaches a chance to reflect on the classroom learning andpaddling with a paddle-ability member helped link theory to real life experience.