Home | Wiltshire Youth Cano

Wiltshire Youth Canoe Club (WYCC) is a friendly, canoeing, kayaking and stand-up paddle-boarding (SUP) club, focusing mainly on youth members.

WYCC's purpose is to:

promote and facilitate youth participation in all paddlesport disciplines,
provide recreational, skill development and competitive paddling opportunities,
provide an inclusive, caring and nurturing environment among its members to encourage personal development, teamwork, sportsmanship, and respect for the environment.

WYCC has a base at the King George V playing fields, Melksham, with significant storage, changing rooms and facilities.

WYCC has qualified, kayak and SUP coaches to create a safe and enjoyable environment for members. The coaches hold relevant, up to date coaching, safety and first aid qualifications.

WYCC documents and policies

The Club's draft Constitution is available here. It will be discussed and approved at the Club's AGM being held at 12 noon on the 15th Match 2025.

As well as the Constitution the Club follows a number policies including:

These policies are in line with Paddle UK and moving the Club towards the Quality Club mark.

WYCC history

WYCC has over 20 years of history in Melksham and was started after the Youth Action Wiltshire (YAW) were looking to enter the 100 Mile Canoe Test on the river Wye in 2002.

Initially, the team did not have enough equipment to complete the event and they ended up borrowing kit from the army in Bovington. The group put together a bid for Sport for All lottery funding. This funding bought ten boats and kit and paid for the training of seven instructors, six of which were from the Army.

One of the original group is still involved in WYCC.

After completing the 100 mile canoe test, YAW put the team in touch with the Melksham Adventure Unit (MAU), based at the Melksham Adventure Centre. They were running a canoe session on the river at Melksham. That first summer WYCC held a session on Wednesdays and the MAU were on Thursdays. Over the winter of 2002 the two clubs merged and WYCC was officially formed.

At the same time a British Canoe Union coach was working with an advanced group of racers, who introduced WYCC to some junior paddlers that needed to be taught kayaking skills. All these individuals subsequently joined WYCC.

The club has become established in the Melksham Adventure Centre ever since. In its early history the club focussed on kayaking and canoeing, but more recently has introduced stand up paddleboarding, which has become increasingly popular.

Over the years the club has had significant success in kayak racing including flat water sprinting and river racing, playing a part in helping Olympians, World Champions and coaches at all levels of the sport. Most years individuals from WYCC are selected for GB teams.

More importantly, WYCC creates and environment where individuals can gain experience and confidence.

To get involved please email:

info@wycc.co.uk