Dragon Boat Festival returns to Newark in partnership with the Children’s Bereavement Centre and Beaumond House

The Chinese-tradition dragon boat racing comes back to Newark this September at Newark’s Riverside Park.

The event’s purpose is to raise funds for two local charities through sponsorship from the racing teams and from land based activities.

The festival is organised in partnership between the Children’s Bereavement Centre and Beaumond House Community Hospice.

Rachel Wilson, the Fundraising Manager at the Children’s Bereavement Centre said: “We are delighted to once again be hosting the Newark Dragon Boat Festival in partnership with Beaumond House. This year promises to be bigger and better than ever, and we have an amazing day planned packed full of friendly competition on the water and family fun on land. A huge thank you to our headline sponsor GXO Logistics, event partners Ringrose Law, all our supporters and of course the teams that have entered.”

The race is already fully booked with 36 teams signed up, including local businesses, community groups and groups of friends.

The race will be taking place on September 18 from 10am-5.30pm and it will follow the course, Trent Bridge to Town Lock.

There will be a wide variety of food and drinks from local suppliers such as Cox, Coffee Bean, Thai Street Food, and plenty of other known names to the town.

In addition to the dragon boat race, there will be different entertainment for families, from inflatable, to face-paintings, live music and fire service.

Melissa Gaffney, the Events and Community Fundraising Manager at Beaumond House Hospice said: “This event is one of Newark’s most important fundraising events in the calendar. Not only do 36 teams support two fantastic charities, but the local community gather to support Hospice care and Children’s bereavement services.

“It’s been inspiring speaking to the teams involved and hearing their personal stories and involvement with our charities. We can’t wait to deliver the Newark Dragon Boat Festival for a third time.”

The Children’s Bereavement Centre helped support 923 local families last year with one to one support and guidance at a difficult time of their lives.

The Beaumond House Hospice provides free bereavement counselling, with 1859 day therapy sessions and 4382 Hospice at home hours last year.

The headline sponsor for this year will be GXO, which has already supported the festival the past two years.

“Our communities are home to our customers, our colleagues, and our families. At GXO, our commitment to creating a better world around us starts by being a good neighbour. We’re very honoured to support the Children’s Bereavement Centre and the Beaumond House Hospice in Newark upon Trent, where we’ve been working in partnership with Currys at their Distribution Centre since August 2021.” commented the headline sponsor company.

Entry is free, however, children’s activities, food and drinks will be charged with part of the sum being donated to the two supported charities.

The Dragon Boat Festival takes place on Sunday 18th September 2022 at Newark Riverside Park, supporting two local charities; Beaumond House Hospice Care and The Children’s Bereavement Centre.

Those looking to take part in a different capacity can now do so after an appeal for volunteers.

There are variety of volunteer roles to suit all interests, including: Registration Assistant, River Marshal, Information Point Assistant, Activities Assistant and Car Park Marshal; there are various shift times on Saturday 17 to Sunday 18 of September.

To sign up, visit www.newarkdragonboatfestival.co.uk

Volunteers will be supported by a team leader and volunteer guide, and will receive a role-specific briefing on the day.