Date of Next Course:
Our upcoming Beginners’ Course in Spring 2026 is now fully booked. Keep your eye on this page for details of our Autumn 2026 course – dates still to be confirmed (likely Sep 2026).
If you are unable to attend this course, you may like to use the “Find a Club” facility on the Start Archery website to search for other archery clubs in the area. North Downs Archery Club welcome new members who have gained a beginners’ course completion certificate from another club, although please be aware that we may not be able to lend you equipment if it is being used by one of our beginners.
The North Downs Archery Club course is run over three consecutive Sunday mornings. The sessions run from 09:30am to 12.30pm (our usual club meeting time) and are held in the field adjoining Matchpoint Lifeline Fitness Centre in Hurst Green, Oxted (see Location & Times for more detail).
Spaces on our beginners’ courses are always limited, as our coaches are volunteers and we run our courses twice a year – generally in May and September.
The current cost of the course is £65, as detailed on our Club Fees page.
Junior Supervision Requirements
- Juniors (11–17 years) must be accompanied at all times by a parent or responsible adult – both during the Beginners’ Course and whenever attending the club sessions if they subsequently join the club.
- Young Juniors (11–13 years) must have an accompanying adult who is also enrolled on the Beginners’ Course. This ensures the accompanying adult can understand the equipment, reinforce safe practice, and support the junior effectively, as we cannot provide continuous one‑to‑one supervision. Note that there is no requirement that the accompanying adult also join the club with the Junior after the Beginners’ Course (although we hope that they will!), though the above requirement that Juniors are accompanied at all times will still apply.
- A £20 combined discount on the Course fee is available when a junior and accompanying adult sign up for the course together.
Each beginner receives a copy of Archery GB’s book “The Archery for Beginners Guidebook”. The sessions also include Safety Procedures and Rules of Shooting, demonstrations of Freestyle and Barebow Shooting, and information on how to continue enjoying archery at club level.
As far as equipment goes, we use recurve bows during training and all equipment is provided. Any beginners at the club are welcome to continue to use the club equipment, until it is needed for the next beginners’ course. We would recommend not to rush into buying equipment until you’ve had time to try out the sport for a while and think about what sort of archery/bow-style might suit you best.
The course is limited to a maximum of 12 people; spaces will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
After the Course
Having completed your course, if you would like to take up archery as a hobby we would be delighted to have you join our club. Your initial club joining fee will include a discount following your beginner’s course (see the Club Fees page for more details). Until you acquire your own equipment you are very welcome to borrow the club’s equipment until it is needed for the next beginners’ course. You would use the same bow each week and it would be kept in the club’s storage for safe keeping.
Alternatively, following the course, if you would like a longer period to decide whether to become a member, you may come along and enjoy supervised shooting for 2 further Sundays included in your course fee (dates to be advised by the coaches during the course).
More Questions?
If you have further questions about our beginners’ courses, see if they are answered in our FAQ.