Lake District: Elders encouraged to canoeing in Coniston

In recent weeks Kepplewray Trust in Broughton-in-Furness have been working closely with Barrow and District Age UK to deliver some taster canoeing sessions to encourage older adults to keep active and try new experiences.

The project came following discussions between Eric Barker, CEO of Kepplewray Trust and Clare Paling from Active Cumbria who is leading The Live Longer Better Program, a national movement enabling people to live better for longer by increasing healthy life expectancy. 

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Kepplewray Trust then approached Lorna Simson, Activities Co-Ordinator at Age UK in Barrow and District with an idea to invite some of their members to take part in canoeing sessions on Coniston Water.

The take-up from members was unexpectedly high with 24 people signing up to take part in two pilot sessions to be delivered by Kepplewrays instructors.

Women enjoying the lake (Image: Submitted)

Some of these sessions took place during July and all the participants reported having had an enjoyable and positive experience.

For some, the canoeing trip on Coniston was a lifetime first and involved overcoming the fear of doing something completely new.

Afterwards, having well and truly pushed themselves well beyond their comfort zones they were unanimous in reporting the positive and life-affirming benefits of the experience.

Trish Tyson a 78-year-old participant enthused said: "I have not done anything adventurous since the pandemic and a hip replacement a year ago. It was fabulous being out in the fresh air in such beautiful surroundings. 

"The first outing was on a windless day and it was a joy just to experience the peace and on the second day we had glorious sunshine and a breeze and really covered some distance.  Kepplewray Trust made the day special with two experienced and knowledgeable instructors and excellent catering.”

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Kepplewray and Barrow & District Age UK are now exploring further options to encourage more older adults to get involved in a variety of outdoor pursuits including having a go at abseiling.

These canoe sessions were made possible by Westmorland and Furness Council and the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Lorna said: "We cannot thank Kepplewray and the funders enough for giving our clients a chance to experience the ‘great outdoors’ in a canoe.

"In our initial group, we had 12 clients whose ages ranged between 67 to 79, most of whom had never been in a canoe before. We had two fantastic days on Lake Coniston which could not have been better, and we have another 12 clients signed up for August and September, one client being 92.

"The event has been amazing and sits really well with the other activities we run at Age UK Barrow and District and hopefully, with enough funding we can continue this in the future."