Dragon boat spectacular returns to the River Cam in Fen Ditton on Saturday 7th September

More than 500 people will take to the waters of the River Cam in Fen Ditton on Saturday 7th September for the 15th annual Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival. You can watch the 35 teams battling it out during the day in spectacular three boat races, cheered on by hundreds of supporters. The teams represent businesses and groups from across Cambridgeshire and surrounding areas, all seeking to raise vital funds for Festival charity, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT).

The 30’ dragon boats, qualified helms and racing equipment are provided by organisers, Gable Events, and each crew is guaranteed a minimum of three races. Medals and trophies are awarded to the top three crews, top mixed crew, top fundraisers and the ‘best dressed’ crew. There’s also a superb incentive to top the fundraising leader board as the crew raising the most money for ACT will receive a special prize experience with Cambridge Escape Rooms.

Races will take place every 10-15 minutes between 10.15am and 5.15pm and there’s plenty to entertain you bankside including children’s rides, face painting, food stalls and a bar plus colourful lion dance, Tai Chi and traditional dancing displays from the Cambridge Chinese Community Centre at 12 noon, 1pm and 2pm. At 12.37pm all eyes will turn skywards for a spectacular flypast from a Lancaster Bomber of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight!

Visitors will also be able to find out more about Festival charity, ACT and the fantastic work they do in making a difference for patients at Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie hospitals. Emily Willdigg, ACT’s Events Lead comments, “By entering a dragon boat crew and raising money for ACT, the teams will be helping to raise much needed funds for cutting each technology, additional specialist services, vital research and extra comforts for patients that make all the difference over and above what would be possible through NHS funding alone”.

For further information please visit www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/cambridge or call Gable Events on 01780 470718. For information about the services of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, call Emily Willdigg on 01223 217757 or visit http://www.act4addenbrookes.org.uk/

Entrance to the Festival is free and free parking is available at Fen Ditton recreation ground (please follow signs). The Festival is supported by Cambridge Independent, Cambridge Edition and Star Radio.

Last chance to enter a team into the Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday 7^th September

With just a few weeks to go until the annual Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival takes place on the River Cam in Fen Ditton, there’s still time to get your team together and join over 30 companies and organisations on the start line.

The Dragon Boat Challenge on Saturday 7th September is always one of the highlights of the regional calendar and no previous experience is needed to take part, just plenty of team spirit and enthusiasm. Don’t worry if you think winning is out of the question as medals and trophies are awarded for the top three crews, top mixed crew, the ‘best dressed’ crew (as fancy as possible!) and the team raising the most money for the Festival’s official charity, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT).

Amongst the teams signed up so far are Cooke Curtis & Co, Bouygues UK, Birketts and The A14 (who have all opted for the enhanced gold and silver entry packages) plus standard crew entries from Cambridge Education Group, Chaplaincy Cambridge University Hospital, CMR Surgical (two crews), eHospital Cambridge University Hospitals, eProp Services, Frames Conservatories Direct, F-star, Grant Instruments, Kerio, Oval Medical Technologies, Provisio, Redrow Homes, Sitec Infrastructure Services (2 crews), Stone King, TWI (two crews), Ubisense and Woodland Group (three crews) as well as the team from ACT.

The colourful 30’ dragon boats, qualified helms and all racing equipment are provided by race organisers, Gable Events, and each crew is guaranteed a minimum of three races. The Festival promises a fantastic day for competitors and spectators alike with Chinese themed entertainment, children’s rides and even a spectacular flypast from a Battle of Britain Lancaster Bomber scheduled for 12.37pm! Racing will take place every 10-15 minutes between 10.30am and 4.30pm, entrance is free to spectators and free parking is available at the nearby Fen Ditton Recreation Ground. The Festival is supported by Cambridge Independent, Cambridge Edition and Star Radio.

Last year’s Dragon Boat Festival raised a magnificent total of £30,000 for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and Emily Willdigg, ACT’s Events Lead is looking forward to building on this success, “We are delighted that businesses are getting teams together to support our much-loved hospitals. 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.”

There’s a superb incentive to top the fundraising leader board as the crew raising the most money for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust will receive a fabulous group experience at Cambridge Escape Rooms voted the number one rated fun thing to do in Cambridge!

For further information and an entry form please call Gable Events on 01780 470718 or visit www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/cambridge . To find out more about the vital work of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust please call Emily Willdigg on 01223 217757 or visit www.act4addenbrookes.org.uk

 

Still time to enter a team into the Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday 7^th September

With just two months to go until the River Cam reverberates to the sound of beating drums and splashing paddles, there is still time to get your team together and join in the annual Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival. The warmer weather inevitably turns our thoughts to activities on water and what better way to keep cool than with a day of competitive fun racing a dragon boat alongside your colleagues and friends?

The Dragon Boat Festival, which raises funds for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT), is one of the highlights of the year in Cambridgeshire and up to 40 teams will battle it out in spectacular races on Saturday 7^th September, cheered on by hundreds of spectators. Businesses and groups across the region are invited to test their mettle against the new and returning crews who have already booked their places on the start line, all whilst raising money for a brilliant cause.

Last year’s Dragon Boat Challenge was won by the ‘Row-Bots’ team from CMR Surgical with ‘Puff’ representing Team Consulting taking the mixed prize and Cambridge Commodities crowned the charity champions. The 2018 Festival raised an incredible £30,000 for official charity ACT which is the only charity dedicated to making a difference for patients at Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie Hospitals.

The 30’ dragon boats, qualified helms and all racing equipment are provided by race organisers, Gable Events, and each crew is guaranteed a minimum of three races over the 200m course in Fen Ditton. No previous experience is needed to take part, just plenty of team spirit and enthusiasm.

The Festival, supported by Cambridge Independent, 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. And there’s a superb incentive to top the fundraising leader board as the crew raising the most money for Addenbrooke’s will receive a fabulous group experience at Cambridge Escape Rooms voted the number one rated fun thing to do in Cambridge!

Emily Willdigg, ACT’s Events Lead is looking forward to building on the success of the event last year, “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.”

For further information and to book your place on the start line this September please visit www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/cambridge or call Gable Events on 01780 470718. For information about the services of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, call Emily Willdigg on 01223 217757 or visit http://www.act4addenbrookes.org.uk/

The Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival – a Boat Race with a difference!

All eyes will be focussed on the River Thames between Putney and Mortlake this Sunday for the Oxford v Cambridge University Boat Race when double Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell becomes the oldest man to represent one of the crews for this annual test of strength and stamina at the remarkable age of 46. If James has inspired you to take to the water and try something different this summer, why not get some colleagues/friends together and enter a team in the 15^th Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival?

The Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival in aid of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) takes place on the River Cam at Fen Ditton on Saturday 7^th September and there’s plenty of time to get a team together and guarantee a place on the start line.

Unlike the University Boat Race crews who average 6’ 4” and 14 stone for the men and 5’ 10” and 11 stone for the women, you don’t need the physique of Sir Steve Redgrave or Dame Katherine Grainger to be successful as dragon boat racing caters for people of all shapes, sizes and levels of fitness. No previous experience is required to take part, just plenty of team spirit and enthusiasm!

Under the expert guidance of a qualified helm provided by organisers Gable Events, your crew of up to 11 people will soon be paddling in time and bonding together as you race towards the finish line over the 200m race course. Each team gets three attempts to improve their race times with everyone having an equal chance of reaching the semi-finals. Over 40 crews are expected to battle it out and all will be seeking to knock CMR Surgical off their pedestal as reigning champions.

Sitec Infrastructure Services from Waterbeach have entered the Dragon Boat Festival for the last two years achieving third place both times and crew manager, Taryn Caleno, had this to say about the event, “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 the Dragon Boat Festival is a great opportunity to link in our social side with an element of team building too!”

Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust is the only charity dedicated to making a difference for patients at Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie Hospitals and Emily Willdigg, ACT’s Events Lead is looking forward to building on the success of last year’s event, “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.”

The Festival 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 team raising the most money for ACT will be awarded the charity trophy and enjoy a fabulous prize group experience at Cambridge Escape Rooms.

For further information and an entry form please call Gable Events on 01780 470718 or visit www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/cambridge. To find out more about the vital work of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust please call Emily Willdigg on 01223 217757 or visit www.act4addenbrookes.org.uk

Gong Hey Fat Choy! Here Come the Dragons!

To celebrate Chinese New Year, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) has joined with Gable Events to launch the 15^th Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival!

The 2019 Festival takes place on Saturday 7^th September on the River Cam at Fen Ditton and is one of the largest and most eagerly anticipated team events in the region. Over 40 crews representing companies and organisations from all over Cambridgeshire and surrounding areas are expected to battle it out over the 200m race course. They will all be seeking to knock CMR Surgical off their pedestal as reigning champions whilst also raising vital funds for Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie hospitals.

Dragon boat racing has an ancient Chinese history dating back 2,000 years and according to the Chinese calendar, 2019 is the year of the Pig. People born in this year are believed to be energetic, enthusiastic and blessed with good fortune – all important qualities for achieving dragon boat success this September and making a splash for Addenbrooke’s!

The Festival’s official charity is Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) which is the only charity dedicated to making a difference for patients at Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie hospitals. Whether its treatment for an emergency, acute condition, pregnancy or long term illness, ACT believes that every patient deserves the highest quality of care available. By entering a dragon boat crew and raising money for ACT, the teams will be helping to raise much needed funds for cutting each technology, additional specialist services, vital research and extra comforts for patients that make all the difference over and above what would be possible through NHS funding alone.

Carol Lester, Director of Festival organisers, Gable Events, comments: “This action-filled event is an unmissable opportunity for team-building, whether you’re welcoming new employees or thanking your team and key clients. Taking part will give your company a unique opportunity to challenge your peers on the water and build relationships whilst supporting a great charity. We expect places to be in high demand so recommend teams get their entries in early.”

No previous experience is required to take part, just plenty of team spirit so why not take up the challenge? The dragon boats, qualified helms and all racing equipment are provided and each crew is guaranteed a minimum of three races. The Festival offers a full day of fun on land as well as water with activities on the bankside to entertain teams and spectators.

The team raising the most money for ACT will be awarded the charity trophy and receive the special prize of a Cambridge Escape Rooms experience.

For further information and to book your place on the start line please visit

www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/cambridge or call Gable Events on 01780 470718.

To find out more about the vital work of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust please call Emily Willdigg, Events Lead on 01223 217757 or visit www.act4addenbrookes.org.uk