Better Youth Spaces helping to make rowing accessible to all in Chester-le-Street
“As a club, we are fully aware that the sport of rowing is often seen as one associated with expenses and an unwanted misconception of class barriers to access the sport.”
Founded in 1888, Chester-le-Street Amateur Rowing Club (CLSARC) is a friendly and welcoming club based on the River Wear. The club has welcomed thousands of people from both the local community and wider reaching areas in the north-east. British Rowing affiliated, the community club is open to all ages and abilities and offers a variety of rowing activities for everyone to enjoy.
Club Captain, Arran Lewcock, explains: “The club is built on accessibility to the community, and we offer junior and adult rowing for £14 and £18 a month respectively, as little as 70p per session. Simply put, we are looking for athletes and members in the places rowing usually forgets.”
In the club’s 137-year history they have always been a fully volunteer-led organisation and plan to remain so, with a dedicated team of coaches who are passionate about helping people of all ages and abilities to learn to row.
A winning formula
The club is home to 2024 Olympic bronze medalist, Lauren Irwin, and British junior record holder Dana Simpson.
Lauren remembers: “I raced the Elite category just aged 17…luckily for me, I came away with the win and I like to think this was a key event in getting me one step closer to a GB vest and my name on the honours board.”
“I think any club in the country would love to have a representative and ambassador for the club like Lauren,” said Arran. “From her stellar rowing performances to her absolute commitment to where she came from, she shows the juniors that you can walk a path from rowing at a small club in the north east to making a mark on the world stage.”
Building on success
Over the years the club has had a lot of success, but after some difficult years they are now building for the future. CLSARC has recently expanded into building a cafe and social area at the club, giving local people a space to use and enjoy the social side of membership at the club. A Better Youth Spaces grant will help CLSARC to expand their reach to more young people specifically.
Arran explains: “We are planning a large-scale fleet expansion of junior boats to allow the club to build upon what has been an unprecedented year or growth and success following the Paris 2024 Olympics. We plan to purchase equipment for the expansion of our junior team and more importantly allowing growth of membership and accessibility with no pass on cost to our members.
“The Better Youth Spaces grant means we can purchase three junior single sculls ranging from 60 kg to 85kg crew weights, one junior women’s racing quad scull, one junior women’s double scull, and nine sets of oars to go with the fleet.”
Investing in young talent
The club offers rowing five days a week to all levels of the sport including learn to row, regional, national and international junior athletes. All sessions are supported by level 2 or above coaches supporting over 50 juniors on an almost daily basis. They have our youngest rowers come in at 11 and support through to 18 and onwards.
They also offer indoor rowing and cross training sessions for all members throughout the year and support some children who cannot swim in completing physical fitness sessions where they cannot yet access the water until they can swim.
“The funding for the new boats is amazing for our club and all of the juniors. New boats give us a sense of pride when we race, and it helps boost our confidence. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to race in a new boat and it makes us more focussed in training. It isn’t just about racing; it also makes us work better together as a team to look after the boats and make sure we are maintaining them and keeping them clean after every session.” Beau Gritton, National silver medalist 2025
Pulling in the same direction
Dana Simpson, one of many current juniors at Chester-le-Street picking up wins across the country believes that the club’s success is down to working together, pulling in the same direction. “If it wasn’t for the teamwork, support and encouragement every junior, senior, coach and parent gives each other every session, the club would not be what it is now.
Club Captain, Arran Lewcock, explains what the Better Youth Spaces grant means to them: “I think the best way to describe what this funding means to the club is simple: opportunity. That is exactly what this grant gives to so many people who currently row at the club and people who don’t even know rowing exists yet. Realistically for the club to fund its continued operations and invest enough to match our Better Youth Spaces grant it would take us 5-10 years to get close. The club’s trustees, committee and coaches have worked tirelessly to create a club which supports our community while achieving sporting success at the highest level both nationally and internationally and it is great to see the club get this platform to launch into the next iteration of what CLSARC can become, the ambition is there with the people and now we will have the equipment to match, its truly amazing what is coming to the club and all of us involved can’t wait to see where it leads us in the next decade.”
National medals
On Saturday 25 April, while using a new double scull provided by Better Youth Spaces funding. Two fifteen-year-old junior boys Elliot Flood and Ben Hutchinson travelled to Nottingham to take part in the Junior Inter Regional Regatta, having qualified for the A final through a very quick time trial the boys went on to win a national bronze medal in the J15 double sculls. A first national medal of the season for the club and a first national medal for a Better Youth Spaces-funded boat!
