Where are you based ?
Stockton is in the North East of England : we have members from across Teesside , Durham and North Yorkshire . We meet at Thornaby Baths for training every Thursday evening and at Thornaby Football Club , where we have been made extremely welcome and have established a great set-up for social and training evenings .
What is your membership today ?
We have 45 members , the divers are three trainees , three Ocean Divers , 19 Sports Divers , 10 Dive Leaders and nine Advanced Divers . A large proportion have been with the club for 10 years or more , but we are constantly training up new divers ; some stay with the club , while some move on .
What is your focus ?
We are very much a family-oriented club , with many families who attend and dive together . We promote the enjoyment of safe diving as economically as possible for all our members , as a not-for-profit organisation . We endeavour to maintain the highest standards of safety , training and proficiency . We give special consideration to introducing juniors and women to the sport . We have a long history of involvement in our community .
What events stand out over the years ?
In 2004 , Water Aid was making news with its great work on clean water for all . Seeing the devasting droughts in Africa , member John Ferguson convinced the club to build a seven-metre-long floating Loch Ness
John and Liz Ferguson sporting shower caps
monster from papier-mâché , tractor tubes and inflatable boats . Fifteen members got in the river and towed this 10 miles from Ingleby Barwick to the Tees Barrage , much to the amusement of the public along the route . The event made the local papers , raising £ 1,500 for the charity .
We have also raised over £ 1,000 for children at the David Center Orphanage in Cambodia . At that time 60 children , most living by themselves in the jungle with tigers and landmines to contend with , were being looked after . Some of that money was used to put in a clean water supply to a village .
We have also worked with Cleveland Police to provide a simulated boat capsize event for a national police team annual swimming and rescue challenge . And we helped out Stockton Borough Council by providing boat safety cover for a local triathlon for 14 years .
What has the club achieved in the past year ?
We haven ’ t had a bad year considering the problems caused by Covid . We kept club nights going using virtual meetings . There have been limited periods when we could use the pool for training , although strict measures had to be adhered to . Shore diving and boat diving restarted a few months ago . We have four new members who are going through training , but two previous new members are waiting on medical advice to restart diving . Over the last few years , we have managed to purchase a new six-metre RIB with wreckfinding equipment and a 175hp power unit , through prudent financial management and many fundraising events , ranging from raffles to music festivals .
Chris Heron undertakes navigation training
Oliver Gibb undertakes a club night challenge
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