CEO visits: Tom's time in the North West, plus the start of his visit to the Thames Region - British Rowing

April 22, 2026

CEO visits: Tom’s time in the North West, plus the start of his visit to the Thames Region

Volunteering and boat house space were key topics in Tom’s latest club visits

Tom Solesbury is reaching the end of his visits around England’s rowing regions, plus Scotland and Wales. His goal in his first few months in post has been to get to grips with tackling the real issues experienced by our rowing community, and using their insights to shape the future strategy of British Rowing.

Tom is in the Thames region this week – here is how he got on in the North West last week, and in Oxford. Hear from him below!

North West Region

I had a great session at Warrington RC, with the club itself and All Aboard Youth Rowing. Our sport is not elitist despite public perceptions, and programmes like this are vital for how we get that message out there – the impact of these programmes on their local communities is so clear.

From Warrington I went to Agecroft RC. It was good to hear from James Harris about the strategy for the North West region – what feels like a very collaborative, cohesive unit of clubs and people.

One of our GB Performance Development Academies is based at Agecroft, so it was great to hear from coaches Clare Holman and Leticia Muziol about the relationships they’ve built with clubs and universities in the region. I met with the president of Manchester University BC, who the Academy is coaching sessions with, and that seems to be working really well.

I spent the evening in Northwich, with an incredible turn out of clubs and our community. Lots of clubs were able to present their opportunities, their challenges and how they’re changing lives every day through rowing.

On my final day in the North West, I was able to tour the clubs of Chester. Thank you to everyone who came to see me in the North West!

Thames Region – Oxford

In Oxford, Falcon Boat Club were kind enough to host me, along with City of Oxford RC and Oxford Amateur RC. It was good to understand some of the difficulties OARC are facing with finding land, needing proper space for a boat house.

We also had some of the Oxford University rowing clubs – thank you to Caitlyn who did a great job organising that! We had a great conversion about volunteering, particularly bite size volunteering – a really good idea that we’ll be looking into as we shape our strategy.

Tom’s final dates

Tom’s visits continue in the Thames Region and Wessex and South East Coast. Check in with your regional representative on where Tom will be in your region if you’d like to speak with him!