Set up in 1936 to send a team to the Berlin Olympics, the British Canoe Union is the lead body for canoeing and kayaking in the UK. Today the BCU has over 25,000 members, 469 affiliated clubs and 145 approved centres. There are an estimated 2 million people take to the water in a canoe each year. The vast majority do so under a watchful eye of one of the 13,000 BCU Qualified coaches or as part of an affiliated organisation.

There are currently a number of Canoe qualification courses open to Cadets to participate in during the summer months, controlled by "The Cadet Centres for Adventurous Training". These courses are 5 days in duration, and are held at one of the three National Cadet Adventurous Training Centres. The courses range from the basic Kayak Foundation Course, designed to teach you the basic canoeing skills, water confidence and rescue skills, through to the more advanced. All of these courses are designed to give you the skills you require to successfully pass one of the BCU awards.

The awards are split into two main categories "Kayak" and "Open Canoe". Both of these categories have different levels of expertise starting from the "1 Start Award" to the "4 Star Award".