STRATFORD Boat Club came to the rescue of a fellow boat club in distress.
Edinburgh-based St Andrew suffered a major equipment loss in April when their club trailer crashed and flipped on the M56 motorway while returning from a training camp in Chester. The incident, caused by the trailer starting to snake in windy conditions, resulted in five boats, including two eights and the trailer itself, being completely written off. No one was injured in the accident.
Replacing the mangled equipment was estimated to cost £100,000, forcing the club to limit its training and racing activities. To recover from this loss, Scotland’s oldest amateur rowing club, founded in 1846, started fundraising.
Seeing the plight of a sister club, Stratford Boat Club set to work raising funds for St Andrew Boat Club and their replacement boats. A ‘bacon butty’ morning and the sale of table toppers from the recent President’s Dinner raised £380 for St Andrew.
The fundraising also caught the eye of Paul Stanton, Stratford Boat Club’s president.
Having retired from active rowing comparatively recently, Paul decided to donate his now not used double, “Merry Wives Too!”, to St Andrew Boat Club.
The double was duly collected by St Andrew on the way back from competitions in the south.
Paul said, “Although it was bittersweet to part with “Merry Wives Too!”, the many memories of sculling with my longtime doubles sculling partner Colin Upchurch and knowing that the boat was going to a good home, made the parting easier.”
