Richmond Canoe Club operates the Jack Petchey Scheme to recognize the outstanding effort by its many volunteers and the hard work, dedication and achievements of its young members.
The Jack Petchey Scheme celebrates those who have gone above and beyond what is expected of them. The Achievement Award is for 11-25 year olds, and nominations are made from members within this age group, giving our juniors the opportunity to recognise the hard work and efforts of their peers. The Leader Award is selected by the same group, and is given in recognition of the dedication and commitment of volunteers who go the extra mile to support young people.
We have announced three inspiring Achievement Award winners this year and a Leader whose vision and values resonate with those of Sir Jack Petchey CBE: “If you think you can, you can!”
Richmond Canoe Club’s Jack Petchey Award Scheme Co-ordinator, Ludy Hills said “It was a pleasure reading your reasons for nominations: “Marko inspired me to take up canoeing and aim to compete in the Olympics”, “Maia is dedicated to her training and passionate about the sport. She has shown commitment to the development of younger paddlers and is ambitious and successful in both sprint and marathon”.
Max has impressed his coaches and peers by being promoted up four divisions and participating with great success in many regional races. However, it is mainly Max’s all-round club member attributes that make him worthy of this award. He is a friend to many, volunteers whenever possible and mentors younger kayakers. He is coachable, a quick learner, sociable with all, generous with his time and works hard.
Peter is passionate about canoeing and is a long standing member of the club. He is liked and respected by all. Peter has welcomed and coached many children and adults over the years helping them improve and flourish in sport and life.
Winners receive a £250 grant which needs to be spent on something to benefit the junior section of the canoe club. The scheme enabled us to purchase paddling equipment, a sports psychology workshop and specialized coaching sessions to the value of £750. We have also been successful with a small grant of £400 to purchase a number of buoyancy aids.
Thank you to our Achievement Award winners Maia Wallace-Loizou, Max Henderson and Marko Csokasi, and our Leader Award winner Peter Barnes for attending the celebration ceremony yesterday. We met interesting young people from a variety of London clubs and had the pleasure of a guest speaker Danny Crates, Paralympic Gold Medalist, who said: “If I had to give one piece of advice it would be to push your comfort zone”.
We are looking forward to working on the next round of awards starting in January and hope you enjoy the process.
