As usual, the start of term was very busy with society and sports fairs as well as our taster sessions held at the Boat House. We ran the sessions over two days, the first of which was lovely and sunny, the second of which not so much. We had a great turnout and even had to add extra spaces to the sessions to accommodate for the interest. It was great to see so many new faces giving it a go both on the ergs and on the water. We must of made a good impression because we had a record interest in our learn to row programme and novice squads, with over 45 new novice members and some new seniors as well!!
In October we ran our annual 24 hour fundraiser, with 50% of all money raised being donated to Mind Manchester, a charity we thought both relevant to us as young people in Manchester and deserving of our support.
Manchester Mind support young people and adults with mental health issues in Manchester. They are an independent, self-financed charity offering services to those most in need. They promote positive attitudes towards mental health to challenge stigma, increase awareness and work for better mental health for all.
Luckily the weather was on our side with a lack of rain unprecedented in Manchester and the fundraiser was a huge success, with members rowing a total of over 550 km and raising over £1000 for Manchester Mind and the boat club.
It also lead to a feature in The Mancunion (the UoM student paper) which can be found by following this link: https://mancunion.com/2024/11/05/manchester-university-boat-club-hosts-24-hour-rowing-fundraiser/.
In November the Senior squads headed up to Lancaster for the first race of the head season – Head of the Lune. Despite an incredibly wet and windy 2.5k both the senior mens 4+ and one of the senior womens matched 8+ managed to win their divisions.
Full results were as follows:
1st: Senior Womens 8+ (B)
1st: Senior Mens 4+
2nd: Senior Mens 1x
3rd: Senior Womens 8+ (A)
3rd: Senior Mens 8+
Unfortunately due to poor weather conditions there were no other races in semester 1 but we did have our annual MUBC pub crawl and Christmas dinner where the club was able to celebrate the success of the start of the season. We look forward to continuing to work hard and see what’s to come for MUBC in the remainder of the 2024/25 season!!