Following Team GB's success at the London 2012 Games, scores of youngsters, as well as adults, will be taught paddle sports by 11 youth leaders on the Forth and Clyde Canal.

The new Pinkston Paddlesports Centre, to be built between Port Dundas and Maryhill, will allow community coaches to introduce children to the fun of canoeing.

The leaders work for local organisations which cater for children, and adults with addiction problems.

After sailing through their training course the instructors met for a celebratory paddle on the canal with Bob Doris, MSP.

Mr Doris, depute convener of the Scottish Parliament's Health and Sport Committee, said: "Whether it's canoeing for schoolchildren or bringing on the next Olympic champions with facilities fit for professional athletes, there is no doubt that this facility is necessary.

"The Pinkston Paddlesports Centre will complete a vital missing link in the sporting infrastructure of both Glasgow and Scotland when it comes online.

"The potential for benefiting communities across the city is significant and I expect demand to be strong.

"The Paddlesports Centre will also help kick-start the much needed regeneration of Port Dundas – one of the many reasons this project has to happen as soon as possible."

The planned centre will cost £2.2 million and so far £500,000 has been raised.

The project has the backing of Councillor Liz Cameron, Executive member for jobs and the economy at Glasgow City Council.

She said: "The regeneration of the canal corridor presents us with a huge opportunity for our city.

"Pinkston Paddlesports will hopefully attract 25,000 users a year once built and become a centre for sporting excellence.

"It will also be an exciting hub for local communities along the canal in the north of Glasgow.

"Glasgow City Council and our partners are committed to the creation of a waterside location which will buzz with opportunity for everyone."

The new coaches are trained in canoeing and kayaking, as well as water safety, including how to carry out a rescue on water, and deal with dangerous weather conditions.

Training was given after the project was awarded a cash boost of £100,000 from the People's Postcode Trust's Dream Fund – money which came entirely from postcode lottery players – and £50,000 from The Gannochy Trust.

One of the first to benefit was Angela Molley, a 41-year-old youth developer worker at the Temple Shafton Youth Project. It's based in Temple, near Anniesland.

And she revealed how the training has already helped local kids. Angela said: "Pinkston will be such a brilliant place for us to take our children, who range in age from five years to 18-years-old. We'll be able to hop on to the towpath, walk or cycle to Pinkston and then get out on to the water.

"With our Level 1 training, we've already taken some of the kids on the Forth & Clyde Canal near to Pinkston and they loved it. They got really into it. Some had been in a canoe before, others had never been near one but they all enjoyed the thrill of it and did very well.

"There's no doubt that we'll be at Pinkston throughout the spring and summer months. Who knows, some of our young people might take the sport quite far."

AND she added: "Whether they become paddlers for life or just enjoy getting out and about being active on the water, Pinkston will be a terrific amenity for us."

Angela and the others were trained by Glasgow Watersports, which is spearheading the Pinkston project, with chairman Andy Watt praising the youth leaders.

He said: "Although we still need more funding before we can establish Pinkston, it's wonderful that our first community training programme has been such a great success. Now we can begin now to get everyone out on to the water, learning about paddling and what Pinkston will offer when up and running.

"The participants have been superb and their enthusiasm for a facility like this in North Glasgow has been wonderful to see.

"Despite this being a sometimes quite arduous training programme over a concentrated three months, we had a 100% pass rate and national examiners Dave Rossetter and Lara Tipper praised the team as being one of the strongest groups they have seen.

"It's also very satisfying to see that everyone is keen to gain more skills in canoeing over the coming autumn and winter, including easy whitewater, sea trips and open canoe trips, and move on to get their next coaching qualification so they can take more youngsters out onto the canal next year."

Pinkston's artificial whitewater course has been designed by Andy Laird, who also responsible for the whitewater course used at the 2012 London Olympics.

gordon.thomson@ eveningtimes.co.uk