Air Ambulance NI held its corporate Dragon Boat Race on Friday 15th September. The event, which was sponsored by Forestside, saw fourteen corporate teams come together to race for the coveted ‘Overall Winner’ trophy.
Not only did the 14 teams do their utmost in physical rowing on the day, but they were also competing for the coveted ‘Overall Winner’ title which was won once again by the defending champions from 2021, Gilfresh Produce Ltd from County Armagh.
Anne MacOscar from Gilfresh Produce said, “Our team had a great day at Air Ambulance Northern Ireland’s Dragon Boat Race. We were very excited to take part again as we had such a brilliant time in 2021 and we were not disappointed by this year’s event. All the team had a fantastic day despite the rain – it was great fun and an excellent team building activity. We are proud to have raised funds to support a very worthwhile local charity that is providing such a vital service in our community and also delighted to take home the ‘Overall Champions’ award once again this year.”
There were three other titles awarded from the event. Fibrus were awarded the winners for Best Team Spirit as they made it to the finals and brought so much joy and fun to the day. The trophy for Best Fancy Dress went to a mixed team from Clayton Hotel Belfast and Maldron Hotel Belfast City Centre who arrived dressed as Dalmatians with Clayton Hotel GM Jonathan Topping leading the way as Cruella DeVil! The award for overall ‘Fundraising Champions’ went to the Hendersons team. Although the staff filled two boats, they brought in a whopping £11,336 in fundraising.
Colleen Milligan from the charity was delighted with the support from the corporate teams, “Despite the rain, the AANI Dragon Boat Race was a fabulous event and one that we will definitely be in our event calendar for 2024. We want to sincerely thank our sponsor Forestside for supporting the event, PRM Group for once again donating goodie bags for all our participants, Bryson LaganSports for their professionalism and support and of course our wonderful corporate teams for signing up, filling the boats, raising the funds, and of course bringing huge smiles on the day. We can’t wait to do it all again next year!”
Air Ambulance NI will host their annual Dragon Boat Race on Friday 6th September 2024 to coincide with Air Ambulance Week. If you’d like to sign up to take part in the Dragon Boat Race please contact colleen.milligan@airambulanceni.org .