Here there be dragons
Collection and delivery office manager Dan Riddle and 20 colleagues from Weston-super-Mare delivery office took part in the 17th Bristol Dragon Boat Festival (DBF) on Sunday 10 June.
The DBF is run every year by Bristol Rotary Club and all funds go to the club’s nominated charity of the year. This year, the chosen charity was Caring in Bristol, which delivers vital support to homeless and vulnerable people all-year round in Bristol. Previous charities have included The Stroke association and Action for Children, our own charity of the year.
The festival is a full day’s event with up to 36 teams competing in heats, semi-finals and a grand final. To compete in the annual event each boat must raise a minimum of £1,000 for the charity. Dan and his colleagues achieved this through a number of fundraising activities, including skittles nights, darts and pool competitions as well as car boot sales and activities in the office such as sweepstakes for the Grand National and World Cup.
‘The day was a resounding success,’ said Dan. ‘We finished 18th out of 32 – our highest place in four years of competing – so not a bad day of racing.
‘In the first heat we came third behind Avon Fire and Rescue Service and Rolls Royce, with a time of 75.4 seconds. There was plenty of drama in the second heat as the opposition boat veered off course and cut in front of us. We had to perform an emergency stop to prevent a collision and after a steward’s enquiry, we had to row back to the start and re-race. We ended up winning the heat in 72.6 seconds. Finally, in the third heat we finished second again with a time of 72.1 seconds finishing just 0.5 seconds behind the team in first and a comfortable two seconds ahead of the third-placed boat.
‘It was a great day and I’m really proud of the team for turning up and giving it their all as well as all the effort they put into fundraising and organising the event. In total we raised close to £1,500, which is a fantastic result.
‘The Dragon Boat Race was something I organised four years ago as part of our efforts to raise money for the Stroke Association and since then it has become a highlight of the year for our social and charity committee.
‘It was also great to be able to wear our famous Delivering with Pride t shirts on behalf of the LGBT+ & Friends steering group. My brother-in-law is transgender so LGBT issues are close to my heart. The t-shirts really stood out on the water and provided a great talking point among competitors and spectators, who were all impressed with the rainbow postbox and what it stands for.
