On Sunday, 6th September 2009, companies from all over the county donned their tribal colours and set off to Tilgate Lakes, Crawley, for the 7th Annual Dragon Boat Race Festival.

Organised by, and held on behalf of St. Catherine’s Hospice, the day was full of entertainment, great camaraderie, friends, family and good food.

Teams consisting of thirteen people were challenged to several gruelling boat races in some spectacular (and extremely expensive looking) dragon boats across the length of Tilgate Lake.  The teams fought it out until there are 6 teams left who then had a race to the post to ascertain the winners.

There were some brilliant and innovative outfits this year. A special identity is essential as this helps the spectators recognise who to shout encouragement to! Most had matching colours with their company name or logo visible, some went a little further and painted their bodies green with green outfits or dressed as vikings with hats and horns. Some wore clown hats and another team dressed up as the Flintstones.

The teams who entered have been working hard since February this year to raise money for St Catherine’s Hospice which goes towards the total raised on the day. Matthew Cornish, Corporate Fund Raiser for St Catherine’s Hospice, told us he believes a massive £50,000 had been raised this year but the total has yet to be confirmed.  The most raised in one year’s Dragon Boat Festival was a staggering £58,000!  All of the money raised goes to such a great cause which, eventually, affects everyone.

We were blessed on this Sunday as the weather was as good as it gets.  The sun popped out for most of the day and the rain stayed in. Mind you, we could not help but feel for some of the entrants who got quite wet whilst competing, as when the sun disappeared behind the clouds and the evening air started to settle in, drying off was a problem.

It was a simple affair really, with food either being made and bought as a picnic or prepared by the very friendly and clean vans from Wynnings & Weaver who have food ranging  from pies and pastries, burgers, baguettes and even yummy donuts.  Owner Serena Wyatt told us it was lovely to be part of such a great day and was happily donating a percentage of the takings to St Catherine’s Hospice.  Alongside the food vans were anotherthree selling toys and other handy items to keep the children happy (kites, frisbees etc.) all manned by volunteers of St Catherine’s Hospice. Thank you: your hard work did not go unnoticed. The whole day was all about the cause, which was really refreshing.

We had the usual suspects looking after our well being.  The local constabulary were keeping a quiet, watchful eye on proceedings.  Our thanks go to PCSO Steve West, PCSO Andreanna Woods, PCSO Wendy Johnstone and PCSO Lindsay Haggart.  We also thank St John’s Ambulance who looked after anyone with injuries.  While we were taking their picture they were nursing a young lad who seemed to have banged his head slightly but we do not think there was anything more serious than that.

As a town we should be very proud of our Mayor. The Worshipful the Mayor Brenda Burgess makes sure she is present at any event which includes the community and this event was no exception.  Mayor Brenda Burgess and her husband, Three Bridges ward Councillor Bob Burgess, were happily walking round talking to all the teams and their supporters. Not every town has such a dedicated devoted Mayor. It is always a pleasure to see Mayor Brenda Burgess and her husband. Accompanying the Mayor were Rebecca Day, and Rosemary Cowley, who is the Chairman of Trustees for St Catherine’s Hospice.

We were also honoured to have three exceptionally smart gentlemen from Corps Security. Peter Lewis, Branch Manager, Richard Cleaver and Peter Reid wore their uniforms with pride and went on to tell us they are due to have their 50th anniversary shortly, so watch this space for more information.

Entertainment was forthcoming in the shape of the Crawley Blackbelt Academy led by Wayne Beadell; and Nam Yang of Epsom, who were led by Maria Wanless. Great displays of artistic control and discipline were demonstrated by both organisations.

The day would not have been possible without all the hard work by Dragon Boat Events. This wonderful company has helped raise over £5 m for charities and have travelled worldwide with their fantastic set up.  Dragon Boat Events take a fixed fee for their efforts, leaving the rest of the money to go to the allocated charities.  For anyone thinking of having such an event, these guys are definitely the ones to call. They are well organised, polite, friendly and completely professional. They set the whole day off with a great speaker system including requests for songs in between the races, compered by their own Bill Handley who kept us up-to-date with the results of the races. Excellent work from Dragon Boat Events. We’re sure we speak for us everyone when we say thank you.

So when all had been said and done, it came down to the last race. Six eager looking teams boarded their boats and took to the starting line. The whistle went and the race started. It was neck-a-neck and all rowed like their lives depended on it. It really was the most exciting part of the day and all the people attending were at the edge of the lake, cheering on their preferred team. It seemed forever before we eventually heard the results, with last year’s winners Tilgate Warriors nervously waiting to see if they had been usurped.  We will not spoil the outcome for you. Instead we filmed the last race and the award presentations. Maybe you can experience some of the exciting atmosphere we all enjoyed!

If you were unable to make this year’s event, we suggest putting a date in your diary for next year as not only was it the most spectacular event we have had the pleasure of attending this year but it is completely FREE to attend. You could always go one better and enter a team! If you’d like to enter for next year, please contact Matthew Cornish, Corporate Fund Raiser on 01293 447365 or email matthewcornish@stch.org.uk

Crawley Happy Times Online are keen on being part of this fantastic event next year, so if you feel you would like to be on our team and/or help raise funds throughout the year, then please contact Shelley on 01293 572182 or email shelley@crawleyhappytimes.co.uk

 

 

 

 

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