14 September 2024
By Göran R Buckhorn
Leander Club continues with the popular Library Rowing Book Talks where authors come to talk about their rowing books.
On Thursday a week ago, three-time Olympian Greg Searle visited Leander to talk about his career and his book If Not Now, When? (2012). The event was attended by almost 60 people. These talks are held in aid of the Leander Trust, which is a registered charity (No. 284631) to advance the lives of young people through rowing. The charity has created opportunities for young people to fulfil their rowing potential.
The Rowing Book Talks have so far raised more than £5000 for the Leander Trust.
At the start of the talk, Irene Hewlett, Librarian at Leander, told the audience about a recent grant that had gone to the girls programme at Hinksey Sculling School. In May, Hewlett had attended a training session with the Hinksey girls and asked them what the boys had, but the girls lacked. The girls told her that they didn’t have access to weights as the boys were always using them leaving none for the girls. Leander Trust went in and provided a set of weights specifically for the girls. These weights were fully paid for by the Rowing Book Talks and the generous contributions made by those who attended the talks.
Next Leander Library Rowing Book Talk will be on 14 November 2024 when Sandy Nairne and Peter Williams will talk about the book Titan of the Thames, their biography of William Grenfell, Lord Desborough, which was published earlier in February.
Tickets are available here.
The Rowing Book Talks are open to all and run in aid of the Leander Trust and the ticket price includes a finger buffet in the dining room at Leander Club overlooking the River Thames.
These talks will continue in 2025 and will include Cath Bishop, H. M. van den Brink and Tim Crooks.