Severn Hospice’s Dragon boat festival is an oar-some success

Staff and volunteers at a Shropshire charity are delighted that a fundraising event, which took place on Saturday and Sunday after a two-year break, was such a hit.

Severn Hospice’s Dragon boat festival took place at the Pengwern Boat Club in Shrewsbury and attracted record crowds.

Spectators lined the banks of the river or watched from the Quarry while more than 30 teams raced their boats through the waters of the River Severn over the two days. In the end, Christian’s Crusaders (Telford Electronics) were the Saturday winners and Top Goat (RAF Shawbury) were crowned champions on Sunday and were handed their winners’ medals by Severn Hospice’s chair of the board, Jeanette Whitford and trustees Paul Donohue and Wendy-Jane Walton and the charity’s newly appointed director of income generation Tracie Harrison.

The festival is one of Severn Hospice’s headline fundraising events – raising thousands of pounds from boat entries and sponsorship.

Because of the pandemic, the festival had not been staged since 2019, but it was certainly back with a bang for 2022.

Tracie said: “We really could not have hoped for it to go any better, it was a huge success. We have really missed being able to hold Dragons – it is one of our most popular and major fundraising events and everyone loves to see the boats on the river, hear the drums beating and soak up the carnival atmosphere.

“This year, we have been overwhelmed by our amazing supporters. Croud was our headline sponsor, and we are incredibly grateful to them for their generosity, and we had teams from pubs, businesses, sporting clubs, hospitals, and dental surgeries.

“The spectator turnout was amazing, and everybody enjoyed watching from the riverbanks.

“There were too many memorable moments from over the whole weekend to pick a favourite but a highlight for me was being back in the community. It was wonderful to see and meet our loyal supporters and there was a great community vibe. It was brilliant fun.

“Holding the Dragon boat festival is so important as it raises funds which allow us to provide vital care to anyone who is living with an incurable illness in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Mid Wales. Thanks to everyone who came along, supported us and made the event such a success.”