Ducks in a ROW!! the big Trent Rowing Club build

Aim

Trent Rowing Club is raising funds to build a new boat barn on the River Trent...(and racing some ducks).

Burton, we need your help - and we’re doing it the Burton way.

Trent Rowing Club is raising funds to build a new, boat barn on the River Trent. 

Every donation goes into steel, storage and safety - so more people can get active outdoors, enjoy our river, and feel at home at Trent RC for the next 160 years.

Who are we?

We’re Trent Rowing Club, an amateur club on the Trent in Burton -  volunteer-run, family-friendly and proudly local (and yes, Burton is where the best beer comes from!).

At Trent we have always aimed to show how inclusive a sport rowing can be, regardless of background. We’re here because Burton people love the river, the outdoors and a challenge - not because anyone fits a stereotype. We welcome anyone who wants to move, learn, and be part of a team, whether they dream of racing or just want to get fitter and feel better. After all we’ve been rowing here since 1863.

We've been smashing it in competitions recently - 

• 10th out of 107 clubs at the 2025 British Rowing Championships
• East Midlands Regional Champions
• Five national medals this year, with just 10 junior athletes

We may be a small club, but we have a big heart, and a determined competitive streak - and we are one of the oldest sporting communities in our town.

(Trent Rowing Club, Burton upon Trent)

Why are we crowdfunding?

Because we want to be able to say ‘yes’ when people ask to join.

Right now, we’re at capacity: about 30 members, with new enquiries coming in that we can’t always accommodate because our boathouse is full.

Rowing isn’t only about being on the water. Our land training - fitness, strength, technique on rowing machines - is one of the reasons Trent juniors and seniors achieve so much. But we’ve run out of space!.

On busy nights we literally wheel boats and launches outside just to clear enough floor for some of us to train indoors. That doesn’t just cap numbers. It stops everyone training together, reduces knowledge-sharing between experienced and new rowers, and makes it harder for whole families to be involved side-by-side.

A new boat barn fixes that by moving boats into proper storage and freeing the existing building for full ground-floor refurbishment into a real training and community fitness space. We’ve sorted planning permission and have the barn base ready. Crowdfunding is the final push to get this barn built.

[AI image of new boat barn (building on the left hand side)

How we’ll spend the money raised

A new shiny boat barn costs £27,100 + VAT 

Any additional funding will pay for safe racking and fit-out, so our boats and kit can be stored securely and accessed easily.

This barn will also unlock phase 2: refurbishing the entire ground floor of our existing boathouse into a versatile indoor training and maintenance space - so we can train more people, more safely, in all weathers.

And we are SO excited to tell you that we have secured support and match funding from Sport England - up to £15,000. So for every donation up to this amount, Sport England's Movement Fund have pledged to match it.

[Juniors at the regatta]

You're invited to our TRENT DUCK RACE on Easter Saturday 4th April at 10am

As part of our fundraising, we are hosting a duck race on the River Trent. 

A range of rewards - see below -  means everyone can be involved - from corporate ducks which your company can "dress" to a range of pre-dressed racing ducks (based on rowing formations) ready to go.

It's just our way of getting everyone together, have some fun, and raise the funds we need for the future of our club. 

How you can play your part

You can help us reach our target, and make our dreams a reality, by

1. Making a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success! General donations of any amount are gratefully received.

2. Racing your Duck in our Duck Dash- this is our Burton-flavoured thank-you and a town-wide river party, to be held at the clubhouse on Saturday 4 April 2026

YOU MUST CHOOSE A REWARD FROM THE BUTTONS BELOW TO HAVE A DUCK OR DUCKS TO RACE ON THE RIVER !

•    £500 business supporters will receive a limited-edition TRC duck and a personal invitation to race it on the Trent at Easter 2026. Dress it in company colours, bring your team, and cheer it downriver. Your company will receive full promotions on our website (our duck hall of fame) and in our socials, and the winner receives a once in a duck-time trophy which will be the envy of the town (we hope!). You also get to keep your duck to proudly display in your offices.

•    Families and individuals can join in too via the mini-duck rewards - a single, double or quad of small race-ready pre-numbered ducks, so you can back our barn and be part of race day. See our rewards section for details

3. Spread the word. Share our campaign on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get (and more ducks we can race).

A quick word from our fundraising lead - “I’m Rachel. I’m supporting Trent Rowing Club with this campaign in memory of my late dad, John Hayward - president of TRC for 35 years and a proud Burton businessman. He believed in this town and in sport that changes lives. If he were still here, he’d be leading this effort - and I know I’d have been roped in too!  So, in his memory, let’s race ducks, rally Burton, and build a barn that keeps Trent thriving for generations.”

Community impact

TRC has been part of Burton’s river life for over 160 years. You’ll spot our squads running through Stapenhill Gardens, training on the Trent, and racing hard at Burton Regatta every July, as well as knocking it out of the park (or river!) in Regional Champs.

With the new barn we can:

• Grow participation for juniors and adults - and stop turning people away because of limited space.
• Offer better land-based sessions for people who want to get fit and active without needing to go on the water straight away.
• Expand school and community introductions so more Burton kids discover the river and the outdoors through sport.
• Keep membership affordable so rowing stays open to all backgrounds.

This barn isn’t just about storage - it’s a gateway to more activity, more wellbeing, and more Burton people enjoying our river.

(our juniors at latest indoor championships)

Why it matters 

Mental health matters.
Access to opportunity matters.
Belonging matters.

Rowing at Trent is about fresh air, friends, discipline, confidence, and finding your place. We’ve watched shy teens become leaders, struggling students find strength, and lifelong friendships form on and off the water. We keep fees as low as possible, so finance isn’t a barrier - but that means we rely on people like you to help us grow.

So let's BUILD, RACE and ROW!!
 

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made