About Us

About Us. About the Canoe Foundation. Male paddler on leafy river.

We like to keep things simple to create the greatest impact at Canoe Foundation. So put simply, we raise money through donations to give that money away in the form of grants.

Please watch our fantastic new film showcasing some of the brilliant projects we’ve supported:

Through the Foundation, we support the Clear Access Clear Waters campaign to improve sustainable places to paddle on UK waterways and coastline. The CACW campaign is a campaign for fair, shared, sustainable open access on waterways.

The projects we support include funding:

  • Launch and landing platforms, steps or ramps.
  • Improvements to pathways and accessible routes to the water’s edge.
  • Signage and information that promotes positive behaviour (Countryside Code, “Check, Clean, Dry”, take your litter home etc).
  • Designated or additional parking for water users.
  • Works to address erosion and create more sustainable access points.
  • Projects that actively engage water users in helping protect/enhance the waterway environment
  • Projects that can benefit more than one user group.
  • Projects that benefit all paddlers, rather than private member facilities

The Canoe Foundation is a UK wide foundation. We raise money for and directly fund projects across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Take a look at some of the projects we’ve funded and our latest news here .

We rely on donations to get the projects we support off the ground. Every little helps. Whether you are able to give a one off donation, a regular direct debit amount or leave a legacy in your Will, we are grateful for every donation. It all helps us to get these important projects off the ground and ensure paddling in the beautiful British outdoors is something that everyone can enjoy.

You can make a donation here .

Our Trustees

The Foundation is registered as a Charity and as a Limited Company managed by a board of Trustees.

Our current Trustees and their background in sport and working experience are:

David Belbin, Canoe Foundation Trustee.

David Belbin

Canoeist, finance, volunteer non-executive director on the British Canoeing Board from 2002 until March 2018.

Sue Hornby, Canoe Foundation Trustee

Sue Hornby

Paddler, canoeing development and participation lead for British Canoeing 1997-2017.

Ashley Hunter, Canoe Foundation Trustee

Ashley Hunter

Paddler, canoeing development and chief officer for CANI from 2017 to 2019.

Aidan McGuffie, Canoe Foundation Trustee

Aidan McGuffie

Canoeist and estate manager.

Chris Earle, Canoe Foundation Trustee

Chris Earle

Head of Recreational Paddling at British Canoeing.

Adya Misra, Canoe Foundation Trustee

Adya Misra

Paddler, Founder of People of Colour Paddle, Scholarly Publishing.

Skip to content