Rowers from across the grocery industry flocked to the Lake District in May 2011 to show their support for the industry charity by taking part in the Speedo Windermere Row. This annual fundraising event took place this year on Saturday 14th May, was sponsored by Speedo International and organised by Amanda Short, who once again did a fantastic job in helping make this another great day out for our industry.
The Windermere Row is now in its 29th year and is always a very popular event with plenty of familiar names from across the industry taking part. There was intense rivalry on the lake with boats from across the industry battling it out to be the first back. Having lost out to one of the Heinz boats last year by just one minute, the Arla Foods boat came in victorious this year with a time of 1 hour 46 minutes. In second place was the Coca-Cola Enterprise boat coming in just two minutes later. The winners of the best fancy dress competition were the Weetabix team with their fantastic Elvis theme.
The event is not only a great social occasion for all the rowers and their families who come along, but it also raises a substantial amount for Caravan – an amazing £84,000 was raised this year. These funds will go a long way in helping the charity to look after former and current industry colleagues during the next twelve months.
John Heagney, Group Symbol Director at Nisa-Today’s (Holdings) Ltd, comments; “This year’s Windermere Row was my personal 24th consecutive Row. As always, the entire weekend was great fun, very well organised and a real ‘win win’ with the Caravan beneficiaries gaining from us having a great time whilst putting something back into this crucially important charity that benefits those from our sector who have hit hard times. Roll on 2012!”
Caravan would like to say a huge thank you to Speedo International for sponsoring the event. We would also like to thank Amanda Short for organising the event, Keith Hogg, Commercial Director of Greenvale for ensuring the safety of all those taking part, and to all the companies who put so much effort into raising funds for Caravan and for making this event possible. We look forward to an even bigger and better 30th Anniversary row on 12th May 2012.
Photographs from the day are available within our Picture Gallery.
