East Anglia Youth Rowing (EAYR) is a new organisation that aims introduce the sport of rowing to disadvantaged students at schools in the region. The goal is to welcome young people to the sport, emphasising fun, participation and making them feel like they belong. We also hope to improve the life chances of some of the most disadvantaged students.

The pandemic has exacerbated inequality and poverty in rural areas seeing youth centres close and opportunities for young people diminish. While there are areas of affluence in cities such as Cambridge, we also see some of the highest inequality levels in the country.

EAYR is building partnerships with schools to either introduce rowing as a school sport from Year 9 or to focus on those students in Year 8 who are at risk of disengaging with education. In each case we will be introducing a mixture of indoor rowing sessions and water rowing sessions at our partner rowing clubs.

Rowing is such a powerful sport and it should be more accessible to more young people. It not only positively impacts 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.

You can change a young person's life by donating towards the ongoing running costs of coaches and equipment for the project and helping us build more links to schools for children and communities most in need.