The Waterside Canoe Club

Hi all - hope you’ve had a great weekend

Here are our next sessions to look forward to:

Monday night Shepaddles:

https://watersidecc.myclubhouse.co.uk/Events/Calendar/View?id=715

Tuesday session:

https://watersidecc.myclubhouse.co.uk/Events/Calendar/View?id=784

Thursday session:

https://watersidecc.myclubhouse.co.uk/Events/Calendar/View?id=829

Hope to see you on the water!

Weekday Club Session WeekNight Club Sessions When Is It: Thursdays, 18:30 Meet Time. Where To Meet: Waterside Canoe Club LE12 7BB or at the Out & About location on the first week of each month (Check Specific Session Details For this). What To Bring: Change of Clothes, Towel, Spare Shoes, Personal Medication. Our WeekNi...

Hi everyone,
Happy Monday! ☀️🛶

Just a quick reminder that there’s plenty happening at Waterside Canoe Club this week, so if you’ve been thinking about getting out on the water, now’s your chance!

🌸 – TONIGHT
Our session is on this evening.
👉 Book here:
https://watersidecc.myclubhouse.co.uk/Events/Calendar/View?id=714

🛶 Club Session – Tuesday
We’re back on the water again tomorrow for our Tuesday Club Session.
👉 Book here:
https://watersidecc.myclubhouse.co.uk/Events/Calendar/View?id=785

🌊 Club Session – Thursday
And if Tuesday doesn’t work for you — or you just fancy another paddle! — we have another Club Session on Thursday.
👉 Book here:
https://watersidecc.myclubhouse.co.uk/Events/Calendar/View?id=828

💜 Regional Weekend at Barrow
This weekend, lots of our Waterside ladies are heading over to Barrow for the Regional event, Hosted By EMRDT, taking place across both days.

There are still spaces available, so if you fancy joining them for a brilliant weekend of paddling, workshops, activities and meeting other paddlers from across the region, have a look!

👉 Regional booking:
https://eventsystem.paddleuk.org.uk/Events/shepaddles-the-east-midlands-2026-30-08-2025/

And remember — if you’re a Waterside member attending the regional event, you’re very welcome to borrow club kit to help you take part. 🙌

Just catch up with Laura or Linzi directly, or drop them a message in one of the club group chats, and they’ll help get you sorted.

So… three chances to paddle with us this week plus a whole weekend of fun. No excuses! 😄
See you on the water! 🌊

WCC Team !

We’ve lost a huge part of our community today.

We’ll always remember you 💔

Good morning Everyone,

It is with immense sadness that Waterside Canoe Club shares the news that our friend, coach and fellow paddler Andrew Oughton passed away in hospital today, 12 August 2026, aged 69.

Many people across the paddling world will know Andy or will have simply just known his name.
To those of us who knew him, however, Andy was far more than a name associated with paddling. He was a coach, mentor, teacher, trip leader, source of seemingly endless knowledge and, above all, someone who gave an extraordinary amount of his time to helping other people - All done whilst seemingly being grumpy about it. A term he adopted for as long as we can recall !

It is almost impossible to capture the scale of Andy’s contribution to paddlesport in a single post.

Over tens of years he helped people take their first moments on the water, supported paddlers developing their skills, trained and mentored coaches and leaders, assessed qualifications, led expeditions and shared his experience with people of all ages and abilities.

As a Paddle UK Coach Educator and a leading figure within paddlesport in the East Midlands, Andy’s influence extended far beyond just the clubs in our region.
He was respected throughout the UK paddling community and considerably further afield, coaching and sharing his knowledge with paddlers across Europe at various abroad trips.

But Andy did not just teach people to paddle.
He worked tirelessly to make paddling better and more accessible for everyone.
The River Soar was particularly close to his heart. Andy worked with organisations including the Canal & River Trust to improve paddling opportunities along the river and was instrumental in developing the Soar Tour, helping generations of paddlers discover and enjoy our local waterways.
Through PaddlePlus (a club he chaired for many years) and the wider paddling community, Andy reflected that he had personally introduced hundreds of people to paddling on the Soar.

The number of people he subsequently coached, encouraged, assessed, advised, supported or quietly helped along the way will be far greater.

For all those achievements, at Waterside we will remember something even more important … Andy the person.

Someone generous with his knowledge.�Someone who would give his time to help others.�Someone passionate about paddling and the outdoors.�And someone whose legacy lives on every time one of the people he taught passes that knowledge on to somebody else.

There will be paddlers on rivers, canals and lakes all over the country today whose journey onto the water was influenced in some way by Andy.

That is his legacy.
The community has lost one of its greatest people.

The paddling and outdoor community has lost a remarkable coach, mentor and advocate.

Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Andy’s family, his friends and the many people whose lives he touched.

Sorry, Andy.

Thank you for everything you gave to paddling, to the outdoors, to the River Soar and to all of us.

Andy Oughton�25/02/1957 – 12/08/2026

Remembered — Always