Grants

Users may not notice but the hub building is slightly lower than the bridge accessing the site. Equally people may not notice that there is a sewage pipe attached to the side of the bridge. What this means is that we have a sump in the car park outside the hub building that has submersible trash pumps which pumps liquid and solids from the hub building drains up to  the level of the bridge. As the pump lives underwater it isn’t something you think about too much until it breaks down, which it did on 5th February. Although we had become aware in 2025 that the stand-by (spare) pump had broken down many years ago (2019?) and not been replaced since then, we had planned and budgeted to install the standby in May 2026. With the one remaining pump now…

As a unique watersports centre, we face a wide range of challenges, one of the most challenging being the canal walls, which mean we don’t a have a lovely beach that give simpler access to the water. In 2023 the accessibility pontoon was installed and over time we recognized some of its limitations, some areas where improvements could be made and the absolute need for a “beach”. There are some amazing resources available from the US, including a detailed review of launch options in https://www.river-management.org/assets/PreparetoLaunch/ptl%20-%202%20chapter%201.pdf . This led to the work by Maintenance Jamie and our Vice-Chair Graham to find a way to create a beach from the 2nd hand pontoons donated by SportScotland and dckc.co.uk that fitted onto the accessibility pontoon. This took a significant amount of time and iterations to finally get a beach than allowed seal launching…

When first opened in 2014 Pinkston was supported by the generosity of paddlesports clubs, paddlers and other orgnisations by the donation of equipment including a wide assortment of older but useable paddles. Over time we have slowly increased our range of paddles whether through grant funding, investment or just replacements due to wear and tear. With our steadily increasing work with young people it has been clear for some time that we did not cater to the needs of different body sizes whether due to age or gender. In June 2025 the Glasgow City Council Local area partnership grants panel from our local Council Ward, Canal Ward made an amazing contribution of £7981.70 towards an overall cost of over £10,000 to address this issue and allow us to increase our equipment available for our youth clubs, youth groups and others….

It doesn’t take long to forget how things used to be. Thanks to GoogleEarth it is now easier. Before the accessibility pontoon accessing the basin always involved a step down onto a small grey pontoon, then manhandling your canoe and launching. This was challenging for fit and able paddlers but a major issue for many. In April 2022 after a huge effort by our General Manager Hannah supported by the Scottish Canoe Association, funding was secured from Suez Communities Trust and SportScotland Facilities Fund to allow the purchase of a large accessibility pontoon with a wheelchair transfer station. Visits to sites in Scotland and viewing other examples online allowed a supplier to be chosen and a design finalized. The reality of being a Scheduled Ancient Monument Consent began to bite as we realized how hard getting permission from Historic Environment…

Although at Pinkston we are often at the forefront of paddlesports and youth paddlesports we can always learn for others. One item we had seen other centres using with huge success is the Giant SUP! A massive paddleboard able to fit 10 or more young people they are the ideal craft for learning teamwork or just lazing about on a sunny day. They are also just amazing fun. We are therefore incredibly grateful to our local council Wards for awarding us funding to allow us to purchase 2 Giant SUP’s from SUP supplier McConks. Costing over £3,000 we would simply no have been able to purchase these ourselves for our own youth clubs, visiting community groups and others.  The recognition from Glasgow City Council of the work we do in making this award is fantastic recognition of our different programs….

The generous team at Clyde Gateway donated their Portacabin marketing suite to Pinkston for us to use as a third classroom and space for our Youth Clubs. This donation of an insulated classroom worth over £30,000 new is an incredibly generous offer. Although currently stored on site we are working on a permanent location. This will need Planning Permission and an entrance adapted for wheelchair access. We were fortunate in early 2026 to receive some funding from National Lottery Community Fund that includes a small amount to get Classroom 3 up and running. We hope to finally hold the opening ceremony in 2026.

During COVID, Pinkston Watersports faced a real threat to our survival. Some poor design by UK Government meant we weren’t eligible for a bounceback Loan (our fantastic bank, CAF Bank were not part of the scheme and the other banks only helped existing customers). Our voluntary trustees rose to the occasion and scoured for possible funders. One Scottish Government Scheme (Adapt and Thrive) looked a possible salvation. This offered a combined grant funding and loan funding package to support organisations. A proposal was developed which included developing our offering (including the lockers and canoes we now have)  but also addressing the capacity issues we face by improving access and storage onto the canal in the North West corner of the site (by the 2nd corner on the long course). An award of £25,000 towards these projects along with a £50,000…

For a number of years we have been welcoming a large number of users and groups who needed adaptions to meet specific needs. This has included young people with limited mobility through to new paddlers in the 70’s with limited vision. Alongside our work on installing a new accessibility pontoon we sought funding to be able to provide a range of adaptive paddlesportds equipment. We are very thankful to the St Nicholas Care Fund Trust who awarded us £2500 to allow the purchase of a range of adaptive equipment. We drew on the incredibly useful resource provided by British Canoeing which showed just how many different adaptations may be needed, but also the importance of being adaptable, and considering “hand-made” / “home-made”  items that addressed specific needs. The humble bean bag is one of the most useful of all adaptations….

What do you do when you have very little money but a million things needing done? You ask for help and often it is provided. This was the case with the chance to transform access to the water at Pinkston. When initially build Pinkston had 3 small grey pontoon blocks installed. While useable, these were always a bottleneck and there were clearly other locations where more access points could be useful. Around this time the permanent closure of Cumbrae Watersports centre was announced. Catherine Brown, a voluntary trustee contacted SportScotland about the possibility of obtaining some pontoons. Although agreed it became clear that bringing them back was not going to be simple. After decades in the sea on the Firth of Clyde they had been dragged onto shore but still needed split apart, cleaned, repaired and also brought back to…