Thames Dragons Covid-19 Active Together

Aim

Help our community keep active together and stay connected during this social distancing period

Thames Dragon Boat Club has been keeping the community active since 1993. Over the past 27 years we welcome thousands of people from all backgrounds and different fitness levels to get active and learn about dragon boat racing. We have a wide range of members in the club from those who just want to be active to some serious paddlers who have represented Great Britain and won medals in the world championships. We are also proud to be one of the most diverse dragon boat clubs in the UK including almost 1 in every 2 of our paddlers coming from a racial or ethnic minority and around 1 in 5 members identified as LGBTQ.

To ensure that everyone will be able to take part in the sport, we have kept our membership fees as low as £10 a month and also with concession rates as low as £5 per month.  The club is run by 100% volunteers. With the increase of operation and maintenance costs, it has become more and more challenging over the years to keep it going.

Prior to the pandemic, members were able to train at least once a week during winter and twice during summer on the water. With Covid-19, we are not able to run any on water activities since March. As a result, we have seen a drop in our membership especially new members, yet we still have fixed costs such as racking fees and insurance etc. that we need to cover so that we could return to serving the community when this is over. We have been keeping our members active and stay connected through our twice weekly online circuit training, dance off, quiz matches and etc. to keep the team morale and reduce isolation. We would like to take another step further to challenge ourselves and raise money for the club to ensure its longevity.

Every year the club will travel to different parts of the country as well as internationally to take part in dragon boat races. This year, national and international races have been cancelled but we are committed to still keeping the community active together. Therefore, over the next month, we will be "going" to Barcelona (our international race cancelled in May). Over the next month our members will be logging the total distance we walk/run/cycle/rowing machine etc. until we reach Barcelona! There will be a total of 1,491 km. We are aiming to raise £1 per km until we reach Barcelona Olympic Port.

If you could spare some change, we would really appreciate your support. Help us keep the club going and continue to support our community to stay active and healthy together. There are some rewards that our members offer when you pledge your support to our crowdfunding campaign. Your contribution will ensure we have a club to return to, we’d like to invite you to join us on the water and learn more about dragon boat racing! 

This project successfully funded on 6th July 2020