Climate campaigners, cadets and rowers share £30,000

THREE groups have received grants from Henley Town Council to help improve its facilities and fund its projects.

Henley Rowing Club, Greener Henley and Henley Sea Cadets received a total of £30,000 following a meeting of the finance, strategy and management committee.

The council had more money to hand out after £20,000 was released following the closure of the River & Rowing Museum, which received the money earlier this year.

Henley Rowing Club was awarded £15,000 to help purchase a new safety boat due to the increasingly severe weather conditions.

The second-hand boat is expected to cost between £20,000 and £30,000, with the additional cost being covered through fundraising.

Chairwoman Helen Turnell said the boat it currently uses is not suitable due to its lack of stability, capacity and difficulty in gaining access to it from the water.

She said: “We do a lot with schools, making rowing accessible to everybody and encouraging everybody to row.

“One thing that’s really critical to all of these activities is having enough safety cover on the river.”

The boat will also be used by Phyllis Court during the Regatta for the Disabled and to move equipment along the river during competitions.

Mrs Turnell added: “The boat will be for our members and participants, which is really critical for other clubs and organisations.”

Greener Henley was awarded £10,000 to partly fund three different projects. Nature Squared will receive £4,000, the annual Great Big Green Week will receive £4,000 and the Henley emergency plan will receive £2,000.

It is anticipated that additional funding for the Nature Squared project will enable its work to expand tenfold from 500 sq m to 5,000 sq m across Henley and the surrounding area by 2030.

The funding for Great Big Green Week, which brings together schools, residents, community groups and businesses, will directly support Henley’s largest annual community celebration of climate and nature. Kate Oldridge, executive director of Greener Henley, said: “We had 100 people at the Kenton Theatre on November 27, who gathered to learn about the escalating threat of flooding.

“What became very clear from the audience is that people are very alarmed but many feel like their individual actions don’t make a difference and are unsure what actions are actually effective.

“We are very well placed to become a beacon town for mass public engagement on climate and nature action. A town that reconnects people to nature at scale, cleans up pollution in all its forms, decarbonises in practical ways and prepares for climate impacts.

“Our four key projects have been designed to deliver real, practical benefits locally and to drive change systemically. That kind of engagement takes sustained co-ordination and professional delivery and that costs money.

“We are actively pursuing other sources of funding, including grant funding, sponsorship and we’re looking at crowdfunding next year.”

The council felt that the grant should include a comprehensive emergency plan for Henley as a deliverable. The sea cadets were awarded £5,000 to repair and improve the parade square, which has become uneven and is posing a trip hazard.

The grant will partially fund the works for the group to resurface the area, which is expected to cost about £14,000.

Anna Field, a trustee and committee member who spoke at the meeting, said: “Currently, the facilities don’t support the commitment of these youngsters and we have to use off-site facilities.

“In particular, the parade ground on the riverside of the building is collapsing and can’t be used in the dark or even for drills in the lighter evenings for safety reasons.

“If the town council can grant the money, it will be a huge boost towards the total. Cadets can look forward to preparing for the Gibraltar Cup and having a usable parade ground for future cadets to use.

“They want to bring this cup back to Henley so badly for the very first time in history and the grant will ensure the best chance.”

Councillor Michelle Thomas questioned whether there was a greener solution to the proposed hardstanding.

Ms Field said she is liaising with the Environment Agency on this.