Henley Royal Regatta hope to make rowing more inclusive

The world-famous Henley Royal Regatta is hoping to make rowing a more inclusive sport by supporting the next generation of rowers and encouraging more young people to get involved.

The six-day event comes to a climax today with finals day where spectators will see 27 races including the most prestigious, the grand challenge cup featuring the men's eights.

On a very rare occasion the dress code for the Steward’s Enclosure was relaxed on the first day of the regatta, meaning that blazers weren’t a requirement due to scorching hot temperatures above 30 degrees.

Donations from the Royal Regatta will go towards the Charitable Trust which provide funds to encourage and support young people, still receiving education or undergoing training, to row or scull.

The Trust was formally established by the governing body of the Regatta in June 1988.

Adam Freeman-Pask is a Steward and trustee of the regatta's Charitable Trust, he said: “We like to think about how we can make our sport more inclusive because there could be anyone out there with any talent and it shouldn't be limited by your background.

“Some people think rowing is an expensive sport and the equipment can be expensive and getting to the river and the lakes can be expensive. So, with the Charitable Trust we try to fund programs that can be sustainable, by giving them good seed funding to get up and running with coaching or equipment.”

He added: "There's a lot of benefits for young people and we just want to broaden out the sport and supporting young people is such an important thing at the moment.”

Mr Freeman-Pask also said: "We've been able to support over 12,000 young people getting into rowing, which is fantastic for the long-term growth and obviously giving people that great opportunity to experience rowing at an early age.”