News

Mandy and Andrew’s Experiences as Trustees for Phoenix Canoe Club & Outdoor Centre

23rd December 2025

Phoenix Canoe Club & Outdoor Centre is located next to Brent Reservoir (also locally known as The Welsh Harp), in North London, between the borders of the London Boroughs of Barnet and Brent. It offers watersports activities such as kayaking, canoeing, sailing & powerboating, as well as land-based activities including forest skills, orienteering and teambuilding courses and recreational activities for its members: The Canoe Club also organises frequent river trips throughout the year, both flat water and whitewater in the UK, Europe & beyond.

Affiliated to Paddle UK, Phoenix Canoe Club is run by volunteer coaches, helpers and of course, trustees. The Outdoor Centre is run by paid employees. Trustees are responsible for all financial, organisational and operational matters of the Canoe Club & Outdoor Centre.  Volunteering Barnet had the pleasure of interviewing two of their wonderful trustees at Trustees’ Week – Mandy Gordon and Andrew Moore (Chairman).

How did you join Phoenix Canoe Club as a Trustee?

Mandy:

I first joined Phoenix as a club member, signing up to a beginner’s kayaking course after discovering the club on a walk one day. I talked to Phil Atkinson (Centre Development Director), signed up, and then never left!

I continued to progress as a kayaker, taking the level-two course, and then started to join the club’s river trips as well. I was then asked to become a coach. I coach kayaking and canoeing at weekends, and help run the river trips too. A couple of years later, I was invited to become a trustee – one of the other trustees approached me to see if I would be interested, and here I am.

Andrew:

I was finding things for my then-teenage daughters to do during the holiday periods. They are all good swimmers, so anything based around water is attractive to them. So having Phoenix Canoe Club on our doorstep was a real gem!

My wife discovered it while I was working away a lot, in construction. At first I didn’t take much notice, but they would tell me how excited they were to go down to this club and I thought… “If I’m ever out in a kayak or a boat, then I’d hate to be in a situation where I couldn’t rescue them if they were in trouble: I’d better find out how to get some competency in it”.

So, I went along thinking I was there purely out of duty, but what surprised me was that I enjoyed the actual activity – but I enjoyed getting to know the people even more. That was fantastic and that’s what stayed with me. So, when they asked me to help out on the Trustee side, I was drawn by the people and what they were achieving for the community.

What skills were you able to transfer over from other parts of your life?

Mandy:

On the one hand I can be a representative of the coaching side of things. In terms of my professional skills, I work in Product & Technology, so I can bring some of my knowledge there to the Phoenix. For example, I worked with a developer to rebuild the website, and reviewed some of the club’s policies, such as data protection and social media.

Andrew:

One of the Phoenix Canoe Club’s founding members was a chap called Mike Sparks. His background was financing, local Authority and fundraising for other community-based activities. I think what he spotted with me was someone who could possibly help with the governance side. A lot of what I do is around Risk Management and making sure things are properly set up and I think he saw that as a good way to add enthusiasm to get things done. There’s far more scrutiny on charities these days, so, although it can be seen as a bit of a boring compliance thing, I think it’s important that people who do donate and other community members know that the club is being run on the right lines. Not just finance but other sorts of governance issues, such as managing the finances and leases, insurances and so on, safeguarding, new hires, amongst other things, that’s really what I was bringing to the party!

What are you looking for in new Trustees?

Andrew:

We’re well covered with Mandy’s direct involvement with the coaching side. We have others who have backgrounds in teaching. It’s great to have a representative from our customer base – local community groups and schools are really important to us.

Where we would like some help is someone with knowledge and expertise in fundraising and with building connections with fundraisers.

There are quite a few strands to the fundraising work. There is: local on-the-ground fundraising as well as from local businesses. There are also applications to manage with the bigger organisations that fund charities. It’s an important part of our income – from funding big projects like getting our new centre building up and running, right through to operational matters where we get regular donations from charities, like John Lyon’s Charity, to help us pay for staff and equipment. We also ask for funding to enable us to do wider outreach work for people who are more disadvantaged or have challenges. This money is so that these groups are able to participate in these sports and activities as well.

What does Phoenix Canoe Club mean to You?

Mandy:

Phoenix is like a second family! The social side of the club is important to me, like taking part in river trips, or when we recently had a Halloween paddle in the dark. We all put lights on our boats, went for a paddle around the reservoir and then came back and had a meal. Everybody brought a dish to share, and we had a bit of a buffet, which was really nice.

I like the way Phoenix can attract young [and older!] people to the outdoors, or as another place to socialise, especially in such an urban environment as London.  It’s a great place to meet new people. Some of them then go on to become coaches themselves and work with us during the summer breaks.

If they go on to university, often they will then end up running their university clubs. I feel like we’re a ‘starting ground’ where people’s interest in outdoor activities begins, and I really like that.

Some clubs are quite geared towards competition [such as canoe racing or slalom] and we’re not like that at all. There’s no bravado, there’s no pressure to do something because you have to. None of that, it’s all very supportive of people’s own progression and journey of how far they want to go when it comes to enjoying water sports and their personal development. So, if you’re happy with going around the lake on a Sunday, that’s great. If you want to come with us on one of our whitewater trips to North Wales and develop your skills in that way, that’s also good!

Andrew:

Like most things in life, you can always think they’re good in an abstract way, but you need to be emotionally engaged. Although I do the ‘mundane’ routine stuff that needs to be done, what really hits home for me is when people write in saying how it’s made such a difference to my child, my son, my daughter, and engaged them in a way that has really helped their growth and development, or how it has benefited their mental health.

There are a couple of instances that stand out to me, where it’s unbelievable what the club can bring just to those individuals and their lives. That is the value of finding a sense of belonging somewhere. It’s profound. It has the power and ability to do that as well as just be a fantastic community asset.

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Phoenix Canoe Club is looking for two new Trustees! If fundraising or secretarial support to move this brilliant organisation into 2026 and beyond sounds like the opportunity for, vist here: