The club

About SHGC

A flying home for paraglider and hang glider pilots across the South Downs since 1974 — non-profit, member-run and community-owned.

The club

The Southern Hang Gliding Club was formed in 1974 to acquire and protect flying sites for its members, and to preserve and encourage the pursuit of safe hang gliding in the south of England. Since those days, the club has embraced the emergence of paragliding within the foot-launch aviation community.

The club is entirely non-profit-making and run by a committee elected by the members. All revenue from membership and site fees is put back into the club to ensure the continued future of the club and free flight in Sussex.

Club history

Free flight on the South Downs goes back more than fifty years, and much of that early history was lived and written by the people who were there. Our club history page gathers three first-person accounts of the early days of hang gliding and the founding of the Southern Club, from Johnny Carr, Mark Woodhams and Ian Grayland.

Read the club history

Club constitution

The club is governed by its constitution, which sets out how the committee is elected and how the club is run. You can read it here: SHGC Constitution (PDF).