To celebrate Chinese New Year and the Year of the Dragon, St Elizabeth Hospice has joined with Gable Events to launch the seventh East Anglian Dragon Boat Festival.
The 2012 Festival takes place on Sunday 27th May on Oulton Broad in Nicholas Everitt Park, Lowestoft with new charity partner, St Elizabeth Hospice on board.
More than 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 Expro North Sea from Great Yarmouth off their pedestal as reigning champions whilst also aiming to add to the event’s impressive fund-raising total of more than £100,000 for charity over the years.
St Elizabeth Hospice is delighted to be the new official Festival charity this year having seen the event’s unique potential for fundraising and fun.
The charity is dedicated to helping people living with a progressive illness and supporting their families free of charge. This year it is expanding its services for patients in Waveney and Great Yarmouth.
The Hospice relies on fundraising events such as the Dragon Boat Festival as well as individual and corporate donations and the income generated from its shops.
Sara White, St Elizabeth Hospice’s Corporate Fundraising Manager, 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. By entering a team in this fun event you will be helping us to raise awareness of the services we provide free of charge in the local area as well as raising funds which will help us to continue to provide these services in future.”
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 St Elizabeth Hospice. 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 as popular as ever this time around so we recommend teams get their entries in early to guarantee a place”.
Dragon boat racing has an ancient Chinese history and the Festival is a re-enactment of a tragic event that took place more than 2,000 years ago in the kingdom of Chu.
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 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.
Click here for further information and an entry form.