Eagle Canoe Club

The video begins with the club matters logo in the bottom left corner, which is present throughout the video.

White, bold text on a burgundy background reads ‘Eagle Canoe Club shares its top tips on club development’. Upbeat instrumental music begins playing.

The next slide fades in as the background changes to a navy blue.

The white text changes to ‘What promoted you to create a Club Development Plan?’.

The screen fades to Stuart Pontin, the chairman of Eagle Canoe Club, standing in front of a river with shrubbery along its banks.

He's wearing a blue quarter zip jumper and tinted glasses.

In the distance there’s a line of trees and a field.

White text in the bottom left corner reads ‘Stuart Pontin, Chairman’.

The music fades out and is replaced by the sounds of birds chirping in the distance.

Stuart says ‘The club had a period where it had a really uncertain future because the tenure of the site was up for grabs, and we thought we might end up losing the site and wondering where we would operate from.

So, initially it was a ‘stand back and think about where we are going and what we are trying to achieve’’.

The screen fades to a red background with white text reading ‘How did you seek your members views on the future of the club?’

The upbeat music fades back in for the duration of the slide.

The music quietens as the screen fades back to Stuart standing by the river.

Stuart says, ‘we did a number of member surveys to try and get an understanding of why people come to the club, and what did they want out of the club.’

As Stuart continues to speak, the image fades to a video clip from the perspective of someone rowing down a river as part of a group.

There are 15 to 20 other participants in red and black canoes.

Alongside the river are red brick terraced houses, which can be seen behind the shrubbery and trees along the riverbank. 

Stuart continues to say ‘but more importantly, what would keep them at the club? What did they want in future years? Where did they see themselves going, as well as where did they see the club going? That then fed into working with the committee and, really importantly, the coach team’.

The screen fades back to Stuart standing along the riverbank, talking to the camera.

He says, ‘Because if we haven’t got a bunch of coaches, we don’t actually have a club anymore.’

The screen fades to an orange background, with the upbeat music resuming.

The white text in the centre of the screen reads ‘How do you conduct the surveys?’.

The music fades out as the image returns to Stuart, who is now sat on a bench by a different section of the river.

He says ‘The last few years we’ve been doing SurveyMonkey, and we try to keep the majority of the questions fairly consistent year on year so that it gives us a benchmark to be able to analyse things back, from year on year.

We do also sneak in additional questions, which is – the coach team meets mid-summer and in the autumn and kind of reflect back on how the year has gone in our perspective, what do we think has worked, and what do we think has not worked?

Then these sorts of things work their way into those feedback surveys to try and tease out from the members whether they’ve got the same perceptions that we have’.

As Stuart is talking, the image changes to a slideshow of pictures.

The first picture is of 10 red and green canoes, each with 2 people rowing them along a river.

Surrounding the river are dense trees along each bank, which obscure view of anything beyond the river.

As the video continues, viewers get a closer look at the canoes.

The closest canoes is painted dark green, with a yellow rope and white Eagle Canoe Club logo on the front. Two women are seen rowing, each wearing an orange life jacket.

The third photo is a closer picture of these two women rowing the green boat.

The white Eagle Canoe Club logo is clearly visible on the front of the boat.

The women are smiling at the camera and the video then momentarily fades back to Stuart sat on the bench on the riverbank.

The image fades to a blue background with white writing in the middle of the screen.

The writing reads ‘What have been the benefits of having a detailed development plan?’. Upbeat music plays.

The image briefly fades back to Stuart standing next to the riverbank before fading to a point of view video of a participant rowing down a river alongside three other boats.

One of these boats is dark blue with white writing reading ‘Novia Craft Canoe’ on the side.

The second boat is dark green with two participants rowing in tandem.

The third boat to the right hand side of the camera is a light blue kayak.

Stuart’s voiceover is heard over the top of the video saying: 

‘As much as giving us focus, it was trying to give the club a bit of PR.

When we were then trying to start negotiations and discussions about securing a long-term lease of the site, it gave us credibility.

Because then when we went to people like the County Council, and all the bodies associated with the long-term lease, they could see what we were trying to achieve.’

The video of the participants rowing down the river fades back to Stuart standing next to the river, talking to the camera.

The image fades back to a red screen with white writing, reading ‘How is your club structured?’

The upbeat music plays.

The image fades back to Stuart stood alongside the riverbank.

He says ‘The club is a registered limited company, so we’ve got three directors of that limited company, and they form the board, which is also part of the club’s administrative committee.’.

Whilst Stuart is talking, the image fades to group of five people rowing down the river in a mix of kayaks and canoes.

The next picture is of a group of people getting into their canoes on the grass riverbank, preparing to start rowing along the river.

The third picture is a close up of the Eagle Canoe Club logo on a green canoe, which is a white eagle with ‘Eagle Canoe Club’ on one front side of the canoe.

After the third image, the screen fades back to Stuart standing by the river.

Stuart goes on to say ‘So, we’ve got 13 members on the admin committee, which is comprised of a chair, vice-chair, treasurer, minute secretary, and a secretary.

We’ve got a youth representative, quality coordinator, safety officer, and then the rest is made up of members.’

The image fades back to an orange screen, with the upbeat music playing. The write writing on screen reads ‘How do you keep your committee effective?’.

As the music fades out, the image fades back to Stuart standing next to the riverbank.

He says ‘Each year at the AGM, we try and cajole new blood onto the committee.

Ideally, newer members, just to keep it fresh and to get input from the new members.

I always try to find a committee that’s argumentative.

It’s good because it kind of makes you think about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

I’m not really into everything just going through on a nod.’

The screen fades to a blue background with white writing, reading ‘What’s it like being on the committee?’.

The upbeat music plays.

The image fades to Jade, a member of the club, standing in front of a red wood barn with other members carrying canoes behind her towards the river.

Jade is wearing a turquoise coat and a pink life jacket.

Jade says, ‘I’m Jade, and I’ve been a member for over 10 years now, since I was 10 years old.

I started off as a youth member and gradually got my skills up, then became a coach.

I’ve been on the committee for about six or seven years now. I started off as the youth representative, and it’s been great watching the building progress and just the club in general, and watching it grow.’

The image fades back to a red background with white writing and upbeat music.

The writing reads ‘Focusing on the club’s future has allowed Eagle Canoe Club to make some big changes to its clubhouse…’

The image fades back to Stuart, who is now standing in front of the metal frame of a new clubhouse.

The metal beams are arranged to outline the structural foundation of the new clubhouse, with a concrete foundation for the floor.

There are bushes and trees surrounding the outside of the metal structure.

Stuart says ‘So for the last two years, there’s been a flurry of activity – of grant applications, planning applications, building regs, architects. An amazing amount of fundraising going, which has become reality. And here we are.’

As Stuart says this, he turns around to face the metal beams, smiling.

Whilst smiling, he continues to say ‘They knocked it down, and in the last week, we have something that looks like a building. And in six weeks from now, it will be finished.’

The screen fades to an orange background, with upbeat music playing.

The white writing reads, ‘Top tips from Eagle Canoe Club: Actively plan for the future with a Club Development Plan ~ Seek regular feedback from members ~ Keep your committee effective by asking new members to join.’

The music concludes as the screen fades to a blue background with writing reading, ‘Thank-you Eagle Canoe Club!’

The screen fades to black as the video ends.