The club's initial success followed on from the West Midlands Centre of Excellence based at Stone between 1973 and 1982. Richard Fox became 5 times World Champion and Liz Sharman took the World Crown on two occasions. Numerous other World Individual and Team medals were also gained by paddlers in this group. From the 1990's Stafford and Stone has excelled in the development of home grown paddlers. A significant number of talented juniors have progressed to represent Great Britain at Junior, under-23 and Senior World and European Championships. Many International medals have been won. Several past or present club members have competed at the Summer Olympic Games including Laura Blakeman at Sydney 2000, Lizzie Neave at London 2012 (Semi Finalist), Joe Clarke Rio 2016 (Gold Medalist), and Adam Burgess will compete in Tokyo 2021. All learnt to paddle with Stafford and Stone from an early age. The club continues to attract new young paddlers in their annual spring junior recruitment, which has become a very popular annual event. Each year more than 100 club members compete at National Canoe Slalom ranking competitions, in 5 seperate ability divisions, which take place across the country, and many compete internationally. Stafford and Stone have claimed the National Interclub Title in 26 out of 34 Championships. In 2011 a new clubhouse in Westbridge Park, Stone was completed. Each year, Stafford and Stone Canoe Club organise 9 race days at Stone and 2 race days at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham. Sponsors for 2021
The Arts and Sports Trust
