A Tideway-funded rowing programme which encourages youngsters to become active in sport has been nominated for a National Lottery award.

Active Row is the flagship programme of charity London Youth Rowing and aims to get young people from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds, girls, and those with special educational needs or a disability involved in sports.

The programme has been shortlisted in the sports category for the National Lottery 25th birthday Good Causes awards, decided by a public vote. 

Among the schools taking part in the programme is the Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls in Ealing. The school recently took part in the on-water part of the programme in Putney.

Head of P.E. Kirsty Rollins said “The school I teach at it is very multicultural, we’ve got a really high number of Muslim girls, probably around 80%. The main purpose was to get as many of those girls involved in Active Row as possible.

“This is really unique for them. It’s a fantastic opportunity for them to try a different sport but also to work on a different discipline, and to work on teamwork. 

“This particular group aren’t necessarily involved in physical activity apart from this programme. They’re becoming fitter. They’re learning about working together, timing, and the general skills you get from taking part in sport.”      

The Active Row programme has engaged over 4,800 young people aged 11 to 18 in its first 18 months, with 72 schools running clubs to encourage them to keep regularly active. To date, the programme has run over 16,000 individual rowing sessions.  

More than 60% of participants in Active Row are from BAME backgrounds with delivery taking place across some of the most deprived London boroughs.

Tideway supports Active Row through funding and volunteering helping London Youth Rowing to achieve their target of reaching out to 8000 young people from across London.

The closing date for voting in the National Lottery Good Causes awards is Wednesday August 21st. You can vote for Active Row here.