Love Rowing and Zoom Ergos are delighted to support the EA Youth Rowing project which will launch in January 2022, targeting areas of deprivation in rural East Anglia to children and communities most in need.

Thanks to your donations, our wonderful Zoom Ergos community has already hit the target for one school to start this programme. But we don't want to stop there. We would love to raise another £2700 to fund another school and our goal is to hit that target before the end of November. We would also love to involve the young people in a Zoom Ergos session once they are up and running.

The initiative will introduce the sport of rowing to 2,500 to 3,000 children across four state schools, who would not otherwise have access. These schools have a high percentage of pupils receiving free school meals. The goal is to introduce young people to the sport, emphasising fun, participation and making them feel like they belong.

The pandemic has exacerbated inequality and poverty in rural areas. Rural areas have seen the highest level of closures of the Government's Sure Start children's centres and youth clubs that provided crucial support to families in the areas the project will target.

The EA Youth Rowing project will fund a rowing coach and ergs at the partner school who will teach weekly indoor rowing sessions. These would be enhanced with open access water rowing sessions at partner rowing clubs. The cost for each school to get started is just £2700, which will cover coaching costs and mean 680 students will have access to rowing from January to July.

Your donation has meant we can fund one school and the goal for November is to raise another £2700 to secure the second school. You can change a young person's life by funding the start of this new and exciting project in schools for children and communities most in need.

Rowing is such a powerful sport that should be more accessible to more young people. It does not only positively impact physical health, but can have a huge impact on a child's mental health. It can aid concentration, behaviour and academic achievement at school and can increase confidence, self esteem and self worth.