Date of Next Course:
11th, 18th and 25th May 2025. We are already over-subscribed for this course. Please keep checking back for dates for our next course or Taster Session later in Summer/Autumn 2025.
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 for one of our beginners’ courses. https://startarchery.co.uk
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).
The current cost of the course is £65, as detailed on our Club Fees page. Juniors (11-17yrs) must be accompanied at all times by a parent or responsible adult (both during the course and attending the club if they join). We highly recommend that a parent or guardian does the beginners’ course alongside a junior, particularly since they have to be in attendance anyway (there is a combined discount of £20 for a junior and adult signing up for the course together). Often we have had parents wishing they had signed up, who then have had to wait 6 months until the next course.
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.