Stronger Together Fund supports Maidenhead Canoe Club launch

Maidenhead has welcomed its first canoe club thanks to support from the Paddle England Stronger Together Fund. Photos: Dominic Hurst.

The club meets on the newly restored York Stream – a side channel of the River Thames that provides a public right of navigation. The new club has been set up by charity Friends of Maidenhead Waterways (FoMW), which took the lead on the restoration of the town centre waterways. Words by Dominic Hurst, Trustee of Friends of Maidenhead Waterways and Secretary of Maidenhead Canoe Club.

Maidenhead in Berkshire is a thriving commuter town by the River Thames. Yet unlike its neighbours in Marlow, Henley or Windsor, it has not had its own canoe club. However, all that has changed, with Maidenhead Canoe Club newly launched and proud to be affiliated to Paddle England.

The formation of Maidenhead Canoe Club came from a charity that led the restoration of a side channel of the Thames called York Stream, which flows through the town centre. Once a flood relief channel, York Stream had fallen into decline two decades ago and was a muddy ditch that flooded in winter and often dried out completely in hot summers.

Working with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, the charity Friends of Maidenhead Waterways led the restoration of the channel. Using funds from developers, the ditch was widened and lined with clay to prevent water from seeping into the gravel below. A new weir helped keep water levels stable.

The channel restoration kick-started regeneration in the town, with new flats, restaurants and cafes being built by the stream. Gradually, the new waterside quarter became the most vibrant part of Maidenhead.

A canoe club had long been an ambition for Friends of Maidenhead Waterways, but the three-kilometre link to the River Thames, called Bray Cut, had become blocked by fallen trees. In recent years, our volunteers have collaborated with private landowners in the lower section to remove fallen branches. However, an upper reach passing council land remained blocked. In April  2025, the council finally removed the biggest of the fallen trees from its land, opening the connection between York Stream and the River Thames once more.

The time had come to gauge the local interest in paddling. In June this year, we decided to host Maidenhead PaddleFest, a celebration of canoeing and kayaking on the York Stream. Paddle England kindly awarded us a grant from their Stronger Together Fund, enabling us to offer free coaching and taster sessions with help from Marlow Canoe Club coaches. We also provided live music and entertainment for families on the riverbanks.

The event was a big success with 130 people on the water. These included 90 Cub Scouts and Sea Scouts, with boys and girls aged 8-10 years old, rotating in groups of eight canoes.

Many more people watched from the banks. York Stream flows right through the centre of Maidenhead, so crowds gathered to watch, wave and take photographs as groups of paddlers passed under the bridges.

Boosted by the success of this event, we started looking for funding for a canoe club.  Property company Get Living backed us with a grant, allowing us to buy our first open canoes and sit-on-top kayaks, which we stored under a bridge.

Maidenhead Canoe Club was finally a reality. Affiliating with Paddle UK was a wonderful moment, knowing we had the support of the sport’s governing body to guide us through governance, safety, safeguarding and other challenges.

Our first taster sessions have been fully booked with waiting lists. Our initial Discover course for new starters was a success, with more courses scheduled. New members are joining our club at a steady rate, with the majority being women.

We face numerous challenges, including securing a permanent storage facility for our boats, securing additional funds to purchase more kayaks to meet our growing membership needs, and maintaining the cleanliness of Bray Cut by clearing fallen branches and York Stream’s freedom from brambles. But for now, the future of Maidenhead Canoe Club is looking bright.

Paddle England’s Stronger Together Fund was launched in 2022 after significant membership growth. It reinvests funds back into the paddling community to remove barriers to participation and supports local paddling projects in England with small grants. For more information about Club Affiliation and how your club can benefit from it, visit our Benefits of Affiliation Page.