Glasgow Ward’s support Pinkston Kids Boats and Paddles

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.

We have been able to purchase a fleet of 8 smaller Red Inflatable Stand Up paddleboards that are ideal for paddlers up to 50kg. We also purchased 4 small kayaks suitable for general purpose of playboating including 2 Jackson Fun 1.5 and two Wavesport Fuse 42’s. The funding has allowed us to buy 16 smaller kayak paddles (Kidstikz) and 12 one piece SUP paddles with warmer glass fibre paddle shafts in a range of lengths from Ainsworth. We have also solved having a range of canoe paddles.

An incredibly useful resource was the UN height guide which helped us work out the different SUP paddles we need. As always our incredible Maintenance man Jamie created bespoke paddle racks and equipment racks to look after the new equipment.