St Elizabeth Hospice and Gable Events celebrate Chinese New Year with the launch of the eighth East Anglian Dragon Boat Festival!

To celebrate Chinese New Year and the Year of the Snake, St Elizabeth Hospice has joined with Gable Events to launch the eighth East Anglian Dragon Boat Festival.

The 2013 Festival takes place on Sunday 2nd June on Oulton Broad, Lowestoft in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice and is one of the largest and most eagerly anticipated team events in the region.

Over 30 crews representing companies, organisations, clubs and groups of friends from all over East Anglia are expected to battle it out over the 200m race course. They will all be seeking to knock Lowestoft-based Team Elite from Elite Interiors off their pedestal as reigning champions whilst also aiming to add to the event’s fund-raising total of more than £100,000 for charity over the years.

Dragon boat racing has an ancient Chinese history and according to the Chinese calendar, 2013 is the Year of the Snake. As snakes are known for their pride, cunning and intelligence, this should result in some interesting races!

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 Waveney District Council, BBC Radio Suffolk and The Lowestoft Journal.

The top fundraisers for Festival charity, St Elizabeth Hospice, will win the charity trophy plus a full day of spa and gym use and lunch kindly donated by the Marriott Sprowston Manor in Norwich.

Sarah Archer, St Elizabeth Hospice’s Business Development Officer, said: “We are encouraging as many businesses as possible to take up the challenge and enter a team in this year’s Dragon Boat Festival and raise sponsorship for St Elizabeth Hospice. You will have a rewarding day out of team bonding and fun – and at the same time will be making a big difference by supporting local hospice care for local people.”

Carol Lester, Director of Festival organisers Gable Events, added: “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 St Elizabeth Hospice. We expect the Festival to be as popular as ever this time around so we recommend teams get their entries in early to guarantee a place.”

St Elizabeth Hospice is dedicated to helping people living with a progressive illness and supporting their families in East Suffolk and South East Norfolk. It provides free services across the area with day units at Lowestoft, Gorleston, Beccles, Ditchingham and Ipswich.  There are inpatient units in Ditchingham and Ipswich.

The Hospice costs £8.7m a year to run and relies on fundraising events such as the Dragon Boat Festival as well as individual and corporate donations and the income generated from its shops.

For further information and an entry form please visit
www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/eastanglia or call Gable Events on 01780 470 718.

To find out more about St Elizabeth Hospice services in your area call 01493 690990 or visit www.stelizabethhospice.org.uk



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