OREANDA-NEWS. December 27, 2012. Wiltshire Youth Canoe Club, based in Melksham, has received new specialist waterproofs and buoyancy aids thanks to energy company SSE.

Martin Croucher, team coach and SSE employee based at the company’s Melksham Depot, applied for the new gear through SSE’s ‘Kits for Kids’ scheme which awards funding to employees who help support youth sporting activities in their local community.

Martin, who was successful at receiving the Ј500 grant from SSE, said: “The canoe club caters for young people aged 8 to 18 and everyone is very pleased with the new kit. They have already used it during their annual ’introduction to moving water’ where they spent a weekend away canoeing in different water types.

“The old kit was falling apart and ready to be scrapped so receiving this from the company was very apt timing. The team is doing very well and we were delighted to be awarded Melksham Council’s Sports Personality Team of the Year in November of this year.”

The specialist waterproofs – known as cags – are adapted with rubber seals around the wrists to prevent water seeping in.

SSE’s Kits for Kids scheme has awarded a total of Ј37,500 in funding this year to 75 employees, each worth Ј500 to help kit out a junior sports group. The scheme is part of the company’s pledge to support local communities in which its employees live and work.