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 in aid of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT). Now in its 14^th year, the Festival has become one of the biggest corporate team events in the regional calendar and there’s plenty of time to get a team together and guarantee a place on the start line in Fen Ditton on Saturday 8^th September.

One of the early entrants are first-timers Grant Instruments from Shepreth in Cambridgeshire who have been designing and manufacturing innovative scientific and data acquisition tools to markets worldwide since 1951. By taking part, crew manager, Charlotte Houlihan is looking forward to strengthening internal company relationships and supporting a charity which is very close to their hearts, “Our company is made up of more than 60 energetic, passionate and technically-mind experts – all of whom are up for a challenge! Grant’s ‘Water Bath Warriors’ will be made up of willing volunteers from all departments within the business including Sales, Research & Development and Manufacturing, along with our very own Managing Director. Not only will this be a fun day out for all involved, it will act as an invaluable team building exercise and fundraising opportunity”.

Charlotte adds, “We are holding a variety of events such as a Royal Wedding inspired Cake Sale, Quiz Night, Summer Garden Party, Raffle and will be heavily promoting our Just Giving page both on our website and on social media. We’ve got a great team at Grant, who not only keep the Grant cogs turning every day, but also go the extra mile to fundraise and volunteer their time to many charitable causes”.

Other early Festival entrants include Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, Ashtons Legal, CMR Surgical Ltd, Cooke Curtis & Co, Provisio, Sitec Infrastructure Services (two teams) and Thorlabs together with Gold and Silver teams from Cambridge Commodities, Cantab and RealVNC. Gold and Silver entries include a significant donation to Festival charity ACT as well as marketing benefits such as the company name and logo on the sides of a dragon boat.

To take part in the dragon boat racing, 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.

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 Fundraiser 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, supported by Cambridge Edition, 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 private group cookery evening event of sushi making at Cambridge Cookery, the award-winning cookery school and neighbourhood bistro and café.

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, Events Fundraiser on 01223 349885 or visit www.act4addenbrookes.org.uk

The Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival – a Boat Race for all!

If the annual Oxford v Cambridge University Boat Race 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 14^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 8^th September and there’s plenty of time to get a team together and guarantee a place on the start line.

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. Of 47 crews last year, three out of the four top-placed teams were first-time entrants in to the Festival including eventual winners Cambridge Medical Robotics!

Sitec Infrastructure Services from Waterbeach entered the Dragon Boat Festival for the first time last year achieving third place overall 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 Fundraiser 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, supported by Cambridge Edition, 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 private group cookery evening event of sushi making at Cambridge Cookery, the award-winning cookery school and neighbourhood bistro and café.

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, Events Fundraiser on 01223 349885 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 14^th Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival!

The 2018 Festival takes place on Saturday 8^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, organisations, clubs and groups of friends 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 Cambridge Medical Robotics (who won the 2017 event at the first time of entering!) 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 and according to the Chinese calendar, 2018 is the year of the Dog. People born in this year are believed to inherit some of the animal’s characteristics and possess the best traits in human nature such as honesty, loyalty, patience, reliability and intelligence. Their industrious nature, faithfulness and strong bond to others augurs well for the teamwork needed to be successful in September!

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 plenty of activities on the bankside to entertain teams and spectators between races. The event is supported by Cambridge Edition.

The Festival’s official charity is Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust 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 believe that every patient deserves the highest quality of care available. Their main 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 that make all the difference over and above what would be possible through NHS funding alone.

The team raising the most money for ACT will be awarded the charity trophy and enjoy a fabulous private group cookery evening event of sushi making at Cambridge Cookery, an award-winning cookery school and neighbourhood bistro and café.

Carol Lester, Director of Festival organisers, Gable Events, adds: “The Festival is a great chance for companies and organisations to try something completely different, promote themselves to a large local audience, network with local companies and potential clients and raise money for Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust. It is also a fantastic team building opportunity - what better way to get to know what makes your colleagues and competitors tick?! We expect the Festival to be another sell-out success so we recommend teams get their entries in early to guarantee a place.”

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 vital work of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust please call Emily Willdigg, Events Fundraiser on 01223 349885 or visit www.act4addenbrookes/org.uk

Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival attracts a global audience!

Companies, clubs and organisations are getting their teams together and travelling from far and wide to take part in this year’s eagerly anticipated Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival in aid of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust. Now in its 12th year, the Festival has become one of the biggest corporate team events in the regional calendar and is now attracting participants from around the globe!

One of the early entrants into the Festival which takes place on Saturday 10th September in Fen Ditton is Cambridge-based Kerio Technologies UK Ltd. 2016 will be the fifth time that Kerio have taken part and they are entering two crews this year owing to the worldwide interest the Dragon Boat Challenge generates amongst its employees. Crew manager, Tracy Shepherd, says, “Our HR tag line is people first and we have colleagues from the US, Australia, Russia and the Czech Republic join the UK office to have some fun. One of our colleagues from Prague has said it is the best team building event he has been to.”

With participants coming from all corners of the region (and around the globe!), the inter-company rivalry is definitely building. Other early entrants include Festival charity Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, Riverside Care and Support, Kings Removals, Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, Thomas Ridley Food Service, Granite Transformations and Ardex who have also entered two crews.

Ardex in Haverhill, Suffolk is the UK arm of an international family-owned business based in Germany. Crew Manager and Sales Administrator, Matthew Hardy highlights the enjoyment employees get from the day. “It’s a really great day out providing the opportunity for our staff to interact more informally and release some competitive energy. We know that all of our team who attend will come away from the event with a smile.” Similar to Kerio Technologies, Ardex will be represented by a range of employees from across the company, with Matthew adding “our teams will be made up from a cross-section of our entire business, with some participants travelling down from as far as West and East Scotland just to take part.”

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.

Carla Brown, Corporate Fundraising Manager, says, “We are delighted to be the Festival charity once again. In 2016, Addenbrooke’s Hospital celebrates its 250th anniversary and we welcome your support during this very special 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 delicious prize meal courtesy of recently refurbished Café Rouge 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

Here Come the Dragons!

To celebrate Chinese New Year, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) has joined with Gable Events to launch the 12th Cambridge Dragon Boat Festival!

The 2016 Festival takes place on Saturday 10th 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, organisations, clubs and groups of friends 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 Turner & Townsend off their pedestal as reigning champions whilst also raising vital funds for ACT.

According to the Chinese calendar, 2016 is the Year of the Monkey. The monkey is an important animal in Chinese culture and people born in the year of the monkey are said to be intelligent, confident and have excellent leadership skills. It is also said that those born in the year of the monkey are incredibly positive, energetic, fun-loving and up for a challenge. These attributes will be much-needed by all the participants in this year’s Dragon Boat Challenge!

No previous experience is required to take part in the dragon boat racing, 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 plenty of activities on the bankside to entertain teams and spectators between races. The event is supported by Cambridge Edition and Star Radio.

The Festival’s official charity is Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) and 2016 sees Addenbrooke’s Hospital celebrate its 250th anniversary! ACT 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 believe that every patient deserves the highest quality of care available. Their main 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 that make all the difference over and above what would be possible through NHS funding alone.

The team raising the most money for ACT will be awarded the charity trophy and enjoy a fabulous three course meal at the recently refurbished Café Rouge Cambridge. Full of history and culture, Café Rouge Cambridge is situated on the historic Bridge Street in a stunning Grade II listed building and is the ideal location for the top fundraisers to celebrate.

Carol Lester, Director of Festival organisers, Gable Events, adds: “The Festival is a great chance for companies and organisations to try something completely different, promote themselves to a large local audience, network with local companies and potential clients and raise money for ACT. It is also a fantastic team building opportunity - what better way to get to know what makes your colleagues and competitors tick?! We expect the Festival to be another sell-out success so we recommend teams get their entries in early to guarantee a place.”

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 ACT please call Carla Brown, Corporate Fundraising Manager on 01223 217757.