Sponsor Us

Durham University Boat Club is one of the leading boat clubs in the country and has a squad of close to 100 athletes. We believe that rowing while studying at Durham University enhances our students’ learning experience and broadens their horizons, as well as equipping them for life beyond University. Furthermore, Durham College Rowing (DCR) represents the 16 college boat clubs, which account for approximately half of all athletes involved in rowing in the North East of England.

The strength and success of DUBC is closely tied with the success of our colleges and therefore rowing and sporting opportunities in the North East, an area where opportunities for young people are scarce. A partnership with DUBC is something which supports rowing, not only in Durham, but the North East and is visible to a large number of people.

DUBC holds many events throughout the year, as well as running a high performance identification scheme for young rowers in the region. This allows us to target sporting opportunities to talented juniors, giving them access to our resources and improving progression. We want to create an atmosphere where athletes from all backgrounds have access to high performance rowing which we do through our Development Squad, among other things. This is a programme for students at the University, with aptitude and potential, who may not have had a chance to row before, to spend a year training alongside our seniors. At present, many of these athletes progress into the senior squad, having won medals at BUCS events, being one of the most successful development pathways of any university in the country.

We measure our success against Team Durham’s three goals: Performance, Participation and Community Partnership.

Performance - Our goals are to win Henley Royal Regatta for the first time since 2005, claim the Victor ludorum at BUCS Regatta (as we did 10 years running 2004-2013) and send as many athletes as we can to the U23 World Championships, of which we have seen 7 representations in the last 2 years.

Participation - We want to increase participation in rowing for young people in the Region as well as students at Durham University. We will be fiercely marketing our Learn to Row programme to students, increasing participation in the events that we run and investing more into our High Performance Identification Scheme.

Community Partnership - We will be using our privileged position to open up some of our resources and give back to the community which has supported us. Current ideas include: holding a weekly indoor rowing fitness class for residents and students, carrying shopping bags in supermarkets and voluntarily tutoring secondary school students.

How do we benefit from sponsorship?

Equipment - DUBC is in need of new equipment in order to compete at the top level. The high cost of running a rowing club is met by student membership fees which leaves us without the necessary funds to purchase new equipment. Our competitors are continually buying new equipment, leaving us behind.

Funding - It costs the club approximately £50,000 to run each year (excluding coaches wages). £5,800 of this is paid for by the University, with the rest contributed by the athletes themselves. Within the university, our athletes are among those who pay the most for their annual membership, costing £340 per athlete. This is non-inclusive of kit, training camp, travel or race accommodation. The estimated costs of rowing as a student is over £1,000 per year and one of the main reasons that rowing is inaccessible to those from lower income households.

Partnership - Our members and event attendees benefit from our partnerships through being introduced to companies which provide opportunities to them which were otherwise unavailable or not well known. The strength of rowing at DUBC, aided by funding from our partners, supports rowing across the region, where an increase in the number of people rowing in the North East increases the profit for clubs running local races and therefore their ability to run the club and open opportunities for other rowers.

How our sponsors benefit

Social media exposure - We have 6,600 followers across our Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts, alongside our current members who have a total Instagram following of just under 50,000 people. Our followers are mainly students based in Durham and rowers from across the country. It takes a certain type of person to be a rower. It takes grit, determination and passion to devote so much of your life to a sport. This type of person is very attractive to both businesses and marketers as these are people who invest a great deal of time and money into themselves, making product and brand promotion more successful, as well as being a pool of talented and driven individuals.

Success - Durham is synonymous with rowing, the two are inextricably bound through their history. Increasingly, rowing in Durham is becoming synonymous with success. In the last two years, DUBC has had 7 appearances at the U23 World Championships, with the three athletes in 2019 bringing home two golds and a silver medal in what was DUBC’s most successful year at the championships. We have also had great success at Henley Royal Regatta, reaching the final in 2019, being knocked out by the eventual winners on Day 3 in 2018 and having two crews in the semi-finals in 2017. We know that the next few years will have a Henley winning crew amongst it which would be a privilege for any company to be a part of.

Image in the community - The North East has the lowest Employment Rate in the UK, 4.8% below the UK average (ONS, 2019). It is a key government goal to improve education and skills of young people in this region. The work that we do in our community to provide these skills through rowing will encourage young people to progress to University, making themselves more employable. Assisting us with this will improve the image of your company, promote your business to graduates and provide potential customers.

• Social media promotion across all platforms, totaling 6,600 followers across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as our individual members having a 50,000 person range. We can make promotional videos, posts and stories to increase your brand’s visibility.

• The sponsor will be a part of all success that the team experiences during this period and immortalized in photos for years to come. The sponsor’s image will also benefit from the positive work that we do in our community.

• The sponsor’s logo will feature on our kit, the side of our boat, pieces of equipment, photos on the wall and on social media.

• Previous sponsors include Ernst & Young, Deloitte, PwC and Fresh Student Living.

To register your interest please contact our Fundraising Officer basil.g.geczy@durham.ac.uk

The position of secondary sponsor, of which there will be only one, will have a range of benefits available to them for between one and three years, including:

Our event sponsor will have certain events named after them. We hold many events throughout the year, both sporting and social.

• Events sponsors will have their name appear alongside the official name of the event. For example: Tyne New Years Head, sponsored by “Company”.

• There will be an opportunity to have a stall at an event in some cases where you can sell your product, market your brand and approach potential customers.

• Speaker sessions at the given event where you can promote your business to the attendees, as well as branding on the brochure/leaflet for the event and around the event

• Social media takeover on our Instagram account in the leadup to the event. This will boost the success of the stall and drum up interest about your company.

Events that we plan on hosting annually:

• Learn to Row -

• North Eastern Indoor Rowing Championships -

• Tyne New Years Head -

• The Boat Party -

• Youth indoor rowing championships -

• Summer Ball -

• Winter Ball -

• Olympic Year Celebration and Dinner (2021 only) -

• Alumni Dinner -

Boat Sponsor

Our boat sponsors benefit from having their names and logo on the side of the boat. The boats which are available for sponsorship are those that will be used at our top national events. This includes GB Trials, BUCS events, Henley Women’s Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta.

By contributing more than 75% of the total cost of the boat, your company will also be able to name the boat. This is an honour which lasts for the lifetime of the boat and becomes part of the legacy of the club.