First Teams Sign Up! Posted on 1st March 20172nd March 2017 by First teams sign up for the Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival! Companies, clubs and organisations from across the region are getting their teams together and signing up to take part in this year’s eagerly anticipated Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival. Now in its 13th year, the Festival has become one of the biggest corporate team events in the regional calendar and it’s now a race to enter a team and guarantee a place on the start line in Fen Ditton on Saturday 9th September! One of the early entrants is Sitec Infrastructure Services from Waterbeach who specialise in providing specialist acquisition, planning, surveying, engineering, design and construction services across the UK telecommunication and fixed line industries. Crew manager, Taryn Caleno, is looking forward to strengthening internal company relationships through their participation. “We thought it would be a great opportunity for team building. We are always so busy as a company, with a number of different teams working for separate clients and types of work. We find it difficult to fit traditional team building away days into our schedule so this looked a great opportunity to link in our social side with an element of team building too!” Taryn also confirmed that the company will be raising sponsorship for the Festival charity, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and have set a target of £1000. With teams coming from all corners of Cambridgeshire and surrounding areas and representing so many different industries, the inter-company rivalry is definitely building! Other early Festival entrants include Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and Taylor Wimpey East Anglia. There are also eight Gold and Silver entries available for the Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival. These include a £500 (silver) or £750 (gold) donation to Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and offer additional marketing benefits such as the company name and logo on the side of a dragon boat. The first of these has been claimed by Stormport Professional Services who are based in Ely and have taken out a Gold package. This will be the companies debut in the festival and crew manager, Clair Godfrey is already excited. “We felt this would be a great opportunity for teambuilding, fundraising and having fun. This will be a fun day during which funds will be raised for a good cause.” Festival charity, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) is the only charity dedicated to making a difference for patients at Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie Hospitals. Whether it’s treatment for an emergency, acute condition, pregnancy or long term illness, they believe that every patient deserves the highest quality of care available. Their aim is to continue to support the hospitals by raising funds for cutting edge technology, additional specialist services, vital research and extra comforts for patients over and above what would be possible through NHS funding alone. Emily Willdigg, Events Fundraiser said: “We are absolutely delighted to be the Festival charity again and look forward to building on the success of the sell-out 2016 Festival. We hope that businesses will support our much-loved hospitals by getting a team together. With the help of many generous supporters, we can provide funds so that our local hospitals can offer the very best care day after day, year after year.” To take part in the dragon boat racing and help raise money for ACT, no previous experience is required, just plenty of team spirit and enthusiasm! The dragon boats, qualified helms and all racing equipment are provided and each crew is guaranteed a minimum of three races. The Festival, supported by Cambridge Edition and Star Radio, promises a fantastic day for competitors and spectators alike with Chinese themed entertainment, children’s rides, inflatable activities and plenty of food and drink for all the family on the bankside. The top fundraising crew for ACT will also receive a wonderful traditional afternoon tea at SIX Panoramic Bar and Restaurant in Cambridge. For further information and an entry form please visit www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/cambridge or call Gable Events on 01780 470 718. To find out more about the services of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust call 01223 217757 or visit www.act4addenbrookes.org.uk
First Teams to Enter Posted on 1st March 20172nd March 2017 by Teams race to sign up for the Nottingham Riverside Festival Dragon Boat Challenge! Companies, clubs and organisations from across the region are getting their teams together and signing up to take part in this year’s eagerly anticipated Nottingham Riverside Festival Dragon Boat Challenge. Now in its ninth year, the Dagon Boat Challenge takes place on the River Trent at the Victoria Embankment on Sunday 6th August and has become one of the key attractions of the Riverside Festival. One of the early entrants this year and returning to the event after making their debut in 2014 are Next Finance from Enderby in Leicestershire who have entered two crews. The company is a blue-chip multimillion pound retail organisation with stores all around the country. Finance Secretary, Suzanne Baker is keen to take part in the challenge again after those staff members who entered a few years ago, hyped it up in the office! She highlights the great opportunity for team building, meeting each other’s families and fundraising for Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People at the event and that the company is “super excited” about the fun day out. There will also be in-house competition from the company as their two teams will see the directory team face off against the fraud team! With teams coming from all corners of the East Midlands and representing so many different industries, the inter-company rivalry is definitely building! Other early entrants include first timers Greyfriars Club from Nottingham, two teams from NMC Nomenca and one from NM Building (Sutton-in-Ashfield) and Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People. NMC Nomenca have chosen to take out a Gold entry and NM Building a Silver entry which include the profile and fundraising benefits of their company logo on each side of a dragon boat as well as a £750 and £500 donation to Rainbows respectively. Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young people provides vital help, care and support for children across the East Midlands with terminal and life-limiting conditions. By taking part in the Dragon Boat Challenge to raise money for Rainbows, the teams will be helping over 380 children and their families form Nottinghamshire and across the region to make the most of the time they have left together and create memories they can treasure forever. Tom Stanyard, Corporate Partnership Fundraiser at Rainbows, said, “The Dragon Boat Challenge is an amazing event. With up to 50 companies competing for a number of prizes the day has a great atmosphere. More amazing than the event however is what Rainbows is able to do with the fundraising support we receive from the crews taking part. With only a small amount of guaranteed funding, your support at events like this make it possible for us to help and care for those families who need it the most.” The top fundraisers for Rainbows will win the Charity trophy plus a special prize meal kindly donated by Pan-Asian tapas restaurant and lounge bar Chin Chin in West Bridgford. To take part in the dragon boat racing and help raise money for Rainbows, no previous experience is required, just plenty of team spirit and enthusiasm! The dragon boats, qualified helms and all racing equipment are provided and each crew is guaranteed a minimum of three races. Teams and spectators also benefit from being part of one of the region’s largest family festivals with a bustling fair and vibrant mix of music, dance, crafts and food from around the world, staged by Nottingham City Council. Media partners to the Dragon Boat Challenge are Notts TV and Business Link East Midlands. For further information and an entry form please visit www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/nottingham or call Gable Events on 01780 470718. For information about the services of Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People call Tom Stanyard on 01509 283919 or visit www.rainbows.co.uk
First Teams to Enter Posted on 1st March 20172nd March 2017 by Local companies get fired up for the Milton Keynes Dragon Boat Festival! Companies, clubs and organisations from across the region have been getting their teams together and signing up to take part in this year’s eagerly anticipated Milton Keynes Dragon Boat Festival in aid of Age UK Milton Keynes. The Festival, supported by Business MK and MKFM, takes place at Willen Lake on Sunday 25th June and there’s still plenty of time to raise a team and get involved! The Dragon Boat Festival attracts up to 60 companies each year – a complete mix of new and returning crews and all with the same aim in mind – to enjoy a fabulous day out with colleagues and friends and make a difference in their community. One of the new entrants to take up the challenge this year is Blum UK. Based in Kingston, Milton Keynes, Blum delivers kitchen fittings all over the country and has grown substantially over the last five years, now with well over 50 employees. Their crew manager and sales administrator, Emma Fletcher explains why they are giving it a go, “We hope that it will improve the bonds between those within the company taking part. Also, it will be nice to let people attending the event know what Blum do as everyone has a kitchen and unbeknown to them they could be using Blum on a daily basis. The team includes men and women from all over the business, we do have some characters taking part and you will definitely see us coming if the t-shirts we are thinking about work out…get your sunglasses on! The dragon boat challenge is one of the main events in the Milton Keynes calendar and this year we want Blum to be involved and shine orange… go the Buk-ineers!” Blum is one of several entrants opting for the enhanced Gold and Silver entry packages which include the profile and fundraising benefits of the company’s logo on each side of a dragon boat as well as a significant donation to Age UK Milton Keynes. Other early entrants include Topdrill Ltd and SMC Pneumatics Ltd (Gold crews), PJ Care and AC Flooring Ltd (Silver crews) as well as standard entries from Braai Shack Restaurant, Interserve and the team representing Festival charity Age UK Milton Keynes. Age UK Milton Keynes is looking forward to supporting and promoting the fundraising activities of the competing teams that raise vital funds for their services. This is a critical time for older people in the community and Age UK Milton Keynes needs to be able to offer support to those who are the most isolated and lonely, many of whom are in their eighties and nineties or even older. There are ever-increasing pressures on these resources and the demand will continue to grow as we all move towards later life. The top fundraisers for Age UK Milton Keynes will win the Charity trophy plus a voucher worth up to £350 towards a celebratory meal at Zen Garden Oriental Buffet Restaurant in Central Milton Keynes. To take part in the dragon boat racing and help raise money for Age UK Milton Keynes, no previous experience is required, just plenty of team spirit and enthusiasm! The dragon boats, qualified helms and all racing equipment are provided and each crew is guaranteed a minimum of three races. There will also be a variety of bankside entertainment to enjoy such as funfair rides, children’s activities and food stalls. For further information and an entry form visit: www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/miltonkeynes or call Gable Events on 01780 470 718. For information about Age UK Milton Keynes visit www.ageukmiltonkeynes.org.uk or call 01908 550700