A team from The Wrekin Housing Trust are celebrating after raising almost £3,000 at a charity boat race on the River Severn in Shrewsbury.
The team – called the Wrekin Warri-oars, took part in the Severn Hospice Dragon Boat Festival, which raised funds for the hospice. The Severn Hospice provides specialist care and support to families across Shropshire and Mid Wales who are living with an incurable illness.
The Wrekin Warri-oars took part in a number of sponsored activities and managed to raise £2,938 for the hospice.
Dona Guy, who works at the Trust in its continuous improvement department, said: “For most of us this was our first time in a boat – we hadn’t even done any practice in preparation for the event. It was a really warm weekend and so we didn’t mind that there was quite a bit of splashing going on and we all got a bit wet. We wanted to raise money for a good cause and Severn Hospice is a very worthy charity.”
The team, who all dressed up as Bob The Builder, battled it out as they raced the 40ft dragon boats along the River Severn between the Shrewsbury School Boat Club and Pengwern Boat Club. Over the weekend a record 42 teams competed and the hospice expect to raise around £50,000 to help them continue to provide specialist care and support free of charge to families across Shropshire and Mid Wales who are living with an incurable illness. To date The Wrekin Housing Trust has raised almost £5,000 for the hospice through the boat race, sponsored bike ride, a Colour Run and other fundraising activities.
Hannah Gamston, events fundraising officer at Severn Hospice, said: “For over a decade our Dragon Boat Festival has been a popular addition to our calendar of events, with thousands of people enjoying a great day out in the beautiful surroundings each year. It’s a fun-filled weekend for all involved but there is a serious side to the event, helping us raise much-needed funds to enable our caring teams to be there for the next person who needs our help. I’d like to say a big thank you to the team from Wrekin Housing Trust for helping make this year’s festival the best yet and for raising such a fantastic amount for our hospice.”
Wayne Gethings, Managing Director of The Wrekin Housing Trust, who also took part in the event said: “It was an enjoyable day and, even though a lot of the team had not done any rowing before, we managed to win the first race and then beat our time in the second race. It was not only a great way to raise funds for an important cause, it was an excellent team building exercise which saw everyone working together and having fun. We missed out on the final but we plan on doing a lot more fundraising activities and this will include doing the boat race again next year.”
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