LYR News

On 9 March 2018, 20 young people from Brent joined thousands of other participants at the National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships (NJIRC), organised by London Youth Rowing (LYR). It marked the beginning of a new partnership with Quintain, the developer behind the transformation of Wembley Park. The event came just a week after Brent was awarded London Borough of Culture 2020, in part due to its work with young people.

LYR have been working with Brent Schools and Yellow Pavilion since September as part of a four year local sponsorship, funded by Quintain. The funding from Quintain includes the provision of free sessions and a Community Coach at Yellow Pavilion, Wembley Park’s much loved Community Centre and four Brent Schools joining the Active Row Programme.

Above: Quintain Employees and CEO Angus Dodd, awarding medals to competitors

LYR’s mission and vision is to enable young people to be active and participate in rowing both indoor and on-water, across London. We currently support over 10,000 young people, creating sessions which include both practical and physical activities, as well as encouraging social learning.

In the lead up to the NJIRC last Friday, Brent schools have been training hard -  participating in ergo rowing training sessions at Yellow Pavilion, as well as an after school club operated by LYR Community Coaches. This is all as part of the ‘Active Row’ programme which launched in 2017, supported by triple Olympic Champion Andrew Triggs-Hodge and Olympic silver medallist Jessica Eddie.  

Last Friday, 20 young Brent hopefuls attended NJIRC, pupils from the Ark Academy and Alperton Community School all took part in the Championships alongside over 2,000 other young people from more than 150 Schools and junior clubs. The girl’s team from Alperton Community School did particularly well in the sprint relay, placing 34th out of 125. Meanwhile a pupil from Alperton Community School came 36th out of 184 in the Year 9 girl’s race.

Above: Olympians Andrew Triggs-Hodge and Jessica Eddie, with Alperton Community School competitors.

Speaking about the programme, Angus Dodd, Chief Executive of Quintain, said:

“We are so proud of the progress that our community centre, Yellow Pavilion has made with LYR and the children who are getting so involved in the schools programme and after school club. To see such tangible activity resulting from our investment in this fantastic charity is a pleasure to see. The NJIRC was a great event; I enjoyed the day enormously as did the thousands of young people who took part.”

Adding to this, Aliyah Anderson, a Year 9 pupil from Alperton Community College, said:

“I loved NJIRC because it gives you a chance to interact with young people from schools all around London and gives you a chance to challenge yourself against other young people.”

Meanwhile Jennifer, a Preston Manor Year 9 pupil said:

“I really enjoy rowing club as it’s fun and is a motivation for me to keep fit. I enjoy trying to beat my personal best and helping others with their technique.”  

Wembley Park is undergoing one of London’s most exciting transformations, and as part of the redevelopment is ensuring that local people have access to health and fitness activities and opportunities. Quintain has committed to funding the development of Active Row in Brent for up to four years and forms part of the wider initiative to get Brent moving and tackle the obesity crisis in the London Borough.

Notes to Editors

For further press information about Wembley Park, please contact:

London Communications Agency:

Keziah Harrison, 020 7612 8498, kh@londoncommunications.co.uk

Quintain:

Harriet Pask, 020 3219 2200, comms@quintain.co.uk

About Wembley Park

Wembley Park is a destination alive with activity and experiences. Wembley Park has already seen £1 billion invested since 2002. Between now and 2020 it is expected that a further £2 billion will be invested as Quintain develops around 1 million square feet of office and workspace and a further 5,600 homes, across a broad range of tenures, which will make a significant contribution both to Brent and London's housing need. During 2017 alone, 3,000 homes are under construction.  Wembley Park is set to become the largest single-site purpose built Build to Rent development anywhere in the UK, with 5,000 new homes available for rent when complete. These are all managed by Tipi, Quintain’s lifestyle-focussed rental management company, which offers a ‘red carpet’, all-inclusive rental lifestyle with shared lounges and social spaces and rents that include utility bills and super-fast broadband.

Wembley Park already benefits from wide boulevards and attractive public spaces – new parks and public realm will bring the total area of open spaces to around 42 acres. Wembley Park is being delivered by Quintain.

You can follow Wembley Park on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook or via the official website at: www.wembleypark.com

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