Teams from SSEN's Portsmouth and Petersfield depots swopped their hi-vis for the high seas recently to take partin the annual Portsmouth Dragon Boat Festival,and have raised £1,142 for the Petersfield branch of FitzRoy, the charity which is dedicated to improving the lives of those with learning disabilities.
Featuring a fiery dragon at the front, each boat had 16 rowers, as well as a cox and a drummer to help the oars keep splashing in time. In total 27 teams took part on the day, with SSEN's crews taking the very credible 3rd (Portsmouth) and 5th (Petersfield) spots.
Sean Colliver, is not only SSEN's Supply Restoration Manager at the company's Portsmouth depot, he was also that team's captain for the race and explains how he rallied the troops to take part for a second consecutive year:
"My wife Tracy works at the Petersfield branch of FitzRoy and when she told me about the race and how it raises funds for local charities, I got a team together and we entered our first Dragon Boat Race last year. Although the race day itself is hard work, it was such a laugh, and the weeks leading up to the race were great for depot camaraderie. As you can imagine, there's a lot of friendly rivalry between all our depots, and so when some of our colleagues at the Petersfield Depot heard we were entering again this year, they jumped on board, sent off their entry forms and set about getting their own team."
Sally Williams was the Petersfield skipper, and is full of praise for her intrepid oarsmen and women: " I'd like to thank everyone who picked up their oars to help us raise so much for such a deserving local charity. From speaking with FitzRoy I know that every penny will be put to good use. I had a great time banging the drum to encourage our team, who did really well to finish in 5th place on such a hot and sunny day."
Jim Apted, Community and Fundraising Manager at FitzRoy is delighted with the sum raised, and said: "The support we get from SSEN each year at the Dragon Boat Festival is absolutely fantastic. It is thrilling for the people we support to come along to the event and watch the SSEN teams rowing their hearts out, with the knowledge that 34 people are thinking of them and trying to raise funds that will help to keep the doors open of the project that they love and rely on for companionship and support. Thank you everyone at SSEN, you are amazing!"