DRAGON BOAT COMMITTEE
2007 AGM Report
The Dragon Boat racing calendar places this event very
early in the Rotary year, with the vast majority of its work taking place and
controlled by the previous years committee.
The club’s thanks for an excellent event in 2006 are
due in the main to last years chairman Keith Hayton
and his troops for another record breaking fund raising effort where –
·
On the
day the vast majority of club members were engaged in some role or other -
whether with the actual racing, north bank gala activities or vital ancillary
tasks such as car parking. They engendered a palpable feeling of goodwill and
rotary spirit throughout the day and whilst exhausted, when the clearing-up was
completed, knew they had done an excellent job. Thanks to you all.
·
All
the committee and many of the club worked tirelessly in preparation on their
allocated tasks be it programme production / distribution / sales, sponsorship
raising, liaison with multitude of local bodies, north bank gala, etc.
·
The
financial outcome, which due to the nature of “the beast” is never easy to
complete, resulted in:
o
36
teams raising £58,813 in sponsorship to be divided 2/3 to their chosen charity
and 1/3 to be split between the rotary clubs selected beneficiaries.
o
The
teams obtained gift aid pledges of £6.9k which the Inland Revenue agreed £6.2k
payable but paid over £7368 in the end to us.
o
This
took the total to over £65k from the teams. This has been distributed to the
charities chosen by the teams and to the designated charities Mind,
Our Celebration &
o
The
overall total raised by team sponsorship, after four years racing, now exceeds
£238,000 but with known and estimated additional benefits to other charities,
including club charitable funds, the total raised for charity in the last four
years exceeds £¼ million!
o
The
after race reception at the Mansion House was well attended and we received
kind words and praise from the Lord Mayor for our charitable efforts and for
our contribution to the city’s life.
The planning for the 2007 event now enters its crucial
stages the 36 teams have been selected, Rotary team contacts nominated,
captains meeting planned when instructions will be issued. The event name has
been amended to emphasis the clubs involvement and from 2007 will be known as –
TheYork Rotary Dragon Boat Challenge
Members will soon be asked to confirm their
availability for the day – again a 3 line whip requirement! And good
weather plans are being finalised.
An event which the original committee, back in 2002,
thought would peak and fade away after maximum 3 years is as popular as ever
and grabbing the imagination of many, not only within the city, but, throughout
the county. It continues to be not only the major charity fundraiser for the
As stated earlier the clubs thanks are due, not only,
to 2006 chairman Keith and his committee but also to the membership of the Rotary
Club of York who give their much needed and
wholehearted support.
Steve Burton - Chairman