Alex Pattinson (Tyne RC) – exceptional dedication and maturity

ARA Under -18 National Volunteer of the Year

Alex has been an outstanding volunteer at Tyne Rowing Club. Having just turned 18, he has shown exceptional dedication and maturity in his involvement with the club. He has volunteered his time to assist with coaching the beginner junior section at Tyne Rowing Club, in the process giving up his own rowing time with the Junior Squad and has made a significant impact on the way that new beginners to the sport are inducted and coached in the club.

Alex has assisted the Community Sports Coach at Tyne in developing the beginner junior section from a small unit into an increasingly larger group.  He willingly takes time off work twice a week to help coach the juniors and to do essential work around the club including fixing boats, maintaining the premises and finding new ways to promote the club to the outside world.

During the school holiday periods, Alex has been the first, and sometimes the only, adult not already coaching to take time off work to coach during normal work hours. Without this assistance, many of the school holiday schemes would not have been able to run properly.

On top of his coaching volunteering, Alex is critical to the other sections of Tyne being able to row as he ensures that club boats are maintained. This is another role which he was not assigned but did anyway, first ensuring that the junior boats and launches were in working order, then moving on to maintaining the whole of the Tyne fleet. On many days, having being the first to arrive in the morning he is the one that closes the club, after a day spent fixing boats and coaching.