Edge Progressive Paddling

Edge Paddling is run by its membership with a Committee elected annually.

The Current Committee is:

Annual Membership is £130 per annum. We offer a £30 young-persons discount for those under 30 years of age (£100 per annum), or £80 discount for full time students (£50 per annum).

If you'd like to "try before you buy" you can join us on any of our sessions we post to Meetup - the cost for your session (~£20-30) will be deducted from your membership if you chose to join afterwards!

Edge Club Members benefits:

• Free Wednesday evening weekly club paddles on the Thames between April & September.
• Free occasional weekend day trips on the Thames or elsewhere! 
• Discounted entry to our weekly pool sessions (£7 member / £12 non-member) to keep on top of your skills over the winter months (October to March).
• Discounted British Canoeing training / assessments including Paddle Explore (previously known as “2 star”) & PSR - Paddle Sport Rescue Training (previously known as FSRT - Foundation Safety & Rescue Training).
• Edge Independent Level paddlers (Paddle Explore & PSR/FSRT certified) can organise "Independent Paddles" (mates peer-paddle) using club equipment (free of charge).
• Priority access to our wide variety of weekend and day trips offered all year round (at least once a month), including touring, whitewater, sea kayaking and more!   
• Opportunity to rent club equipment (on a “trust basis”) for your own excursions.

Please see the website calendar for events timings, with further details on the club  Facebook page.

For more information on membership contact the club secretary membership@edgepaddling.com

Complete our Membership Application Form.

Any queries, feel free to contact the Membership Secretary: membership@edgepaddling.com 

The cost is £130 per annum.

Of course! We welcome all newcomers of any ability to the club.

We charge a small fee to cover operational costs for taster sessions, but these costs will be deducted from membership should you wish to join after.

We manage all of our events for people looking to try a session via Meetup, have a look for any upcoming events there or get in touch.

We operate two different methods for event signup, depending on if you are a club member or not.

For newcomers who are just wanting to give it a try, we organise signup for all our events via Meetup. 

For club members, we manage everything via our Facebook page:

For our regular club paddles and pool sessions, we post on our facebook page about a week prior. Attendance is managed via comments on that post on a first-come-first-served basis. We will hold a waiting list, so if you can no longer make the event be sure to comment again to let us know ASAP.

For club trips, we create events on facebook that provide all the details of the trip - these are usually posted at least a month in advance, if not before. You can register your interest via the event, but spaces are not held until deposit payment has been received. Usually payment is received by bank transfer, and the bank details can be obtained by messaging the event organiser (usually not the club's bank account as funds are managed by the event organiser).

Friends and family are most welcome on our regular club paddles  & pool sessions, we can take anyone over 18. For prices and booking details please see our Meetup Group or Facebook page.

Trips and courses are initially offered to members with any spaces remaining being offered to the general public.

Members of Edge have to be over 18, however, we do arrange events that under 18's (accompanied by a member) can take part in.

For example, under 18's are welcome to our pool sessions and are allowed on some canal sessions at the discretion of the coach.  Check via the Facebook group if a particular session/coach will allow an accompanied under 18.

On most occasions the club can provide the following equipment to club members:

• Canoes/Kayaks
• Paddles
• Helmets
• Buoyancy Aids (keeps you floating if you capsize)
• Splash Cags (keeps the wind off you, but not suitable for whitewater)
• Spray Decks (very limited numbers, best to buy your own)
  

Essential Kit you must provide yourself:

• Neoprene shoes or old trainers
  you must wear closed toe shoes if venturing onto the Thames shore.

   

• Warm suitable tops
  ones that retain warmth when wet is best eg. fleeces, thermals etc
• Shorts/trousers that you don't mind getting wet
  
• Warm dry change of clothing

Optional Kit
These items are not required for all activities but may well be essential for some activities and trips. We will let you know in advance if a certain activity or trip requires this extra equipment. If you wish to purchase any canoeing kit, Edge have negotiated club discounts with several canoe retailers - contact us for details.

• Dry suit
  Great for keeping your whole body warm and dry even if you swim (expensive, but will become your favourite piece of clothing if you venture into white water or surf).

   

• Wetsuit
  A cheaper option than a dry suit if you are not yet prepared to invest in a drysuit. Important to have either a wetsuit or a drysuit for white water,surf and sea kayaking trips!

   

• Dry Cag
  Will keep your whole body totally dry so long as you stay in your boat and don't swim. Highly recommended item of kit for anyone who wants to progress. Although it doesn't come cheap it's much more economical than a whole dry suit and makes a really big difference. Can be combined with thermal tops and/or wetsuit for added warmth.

   

Extra Trip Kit and Provisions:

• On overnight trips we may camp or stay in bunkhouses etc. The club expects you to provide all your own camping and equipment (tents, sleeping bags etc).
  As a community, we may well be able to help out and lend some kit to those who don't have their own on a best endeavour basis.
  We will let you know in advance if we are camping/caravaning so you have time to get hold of any kit you will need.
  
  
• Food is never provided as part of the trip costs unless stated otherwise.

Equipment is hired out on a trust-basis, you are liable for any damage or loss at the discretion of the Club Committee. Any borrowing of club equipment for personal use, is done so completely at your own risk.

Note that for any additional equipment we don’t have to loan out,  many paddlers start out borrowing from our community of club members before building stashes of kit for themselves - so worth asking about!

Edge equipment can be requested for personal use for all Club members on proof of the following:

• Over 18 years of age
• British Canoeing Explore Award (or previous “2 star” qualification)
• PSR (previously FSRT) qualification
• Site Specific Training, e.g Thames Specific Knowledge (TSK) if travelling on the Thames

We have the following kit available:

• Sea kayaks
• Touring Kayaks
• Touring Canoes
• White Water boats
• Paddles (various)
• PFDs
• Helmets
• Splash Cags & a limited supply of spray-decks

All use of club equipment must ALWAYS be requested using the Equipment Loan Request Form detailing which equipment is required and when it's being removed and returned.

Under no circumstances should our boats or other equipment be taken from the arch or canal base unless your equipment request has been processed and agreed in advance (you should receive an email confirmation confirming your request is successful).

There is a charge of £10 per day for the use of kayaks/canoes.

Equipment is hired out on a trust-basis, you are liable for any damage or loss at the discretion of the Club Committee. Any borrowing of club equipment for personal use, is done so completely at your own risk.

Note that for any additional equipment we don’t have to loan out,  many paddlers start out borrowing from our community of club members before building stashes of kit for themselves - so worth asking about!

Independent paddlers are those that have reached a sufficient standard that they do not need coaches to accompany them when on the Canal.  They can also loan/hire equipment from the club and arrange their own "Mates Paddles".

Independent paddlers have:

• Paddle Explore (previously 2 star award)
• Completed a Paddle Sport Rescue (PSR) training course
  (or the previous FSRT - Foundation Safety and Rescue Training course).

An Independent Paddle is a short excursion organised independently by a club member who is an Independent Paddler - All attendees must also be Independent Paddlers. These ordinarily are just fun peer paddles that don’t have any training/coaching in mind.

Club kit can be borrowed for an Independent Paddle (this isn’t considered loaning equipment, so free of charge) but all equipment taken is under the responsibility of the person using it and they will need to pay for any repairs or replacements.

Club members are responsible for all club kit borrowed during an Independent Paddle, including replacement of kayaks/canoes if they are lost, stolen or damaged. 

Club members are responsible for all club kit borrowed during an Independent Paddle, including replacement of kayaks/canoes if they are lost, stolen or damaged.

• Ask a coach at the next club night to teach you something new.
• Sign up to a trip - ask a coach which ones would be good for you. Trips are fantastic for variety, showing what's possible, and finding out what sort of canoeing you like
• Do a training course. Even if you don't care for qualifications, the British Canoeing training programmes make sense and strengthen your abilities. The club can arrange these or point you in the direction of where to go.
• Email our Coaching Chief!

Maybe 😊 Seal sightings are rare but not impossible on the Thames near Kew Bridge.
You'll have to just come along and see!