Crowds gathered at Princes Dock on Friday (23^rd September) to witness more than 200 people from over 30 local businesses competing in the 8^th Liverpool Waters Dragon Boat Race.

The annual event, which was sponsored by Anchor Group Services, has raised an incredible amount of around £35,000 for local charity, Claire House Children’s Hospice.

Teams from businesses across the Liverpool City Region, including tenants, partners and suppliers of Peel L&P’s Liverpool Waters, battled it out on the water. Dragon boat racing, which originated in ancient China, is now the fastest growing water sport in the world and is a favourite among corporates for its team building benefits.

During the day, teams competed in crews of between seven and 13 people who sat in pairs in the canoe-like vessels fitted with ornately carved dragon heads and tails. Each team took part in three timed races over distances of around 200m before the knockout stages began.

At the end of the day, Everton in the Community were crowned the champions after winning all five of their races during the day.

To enter, all businesses had to raise a minimum of £750 in sponsorship for Claire House. Participating teams included: - Peel L&P, Liverpool Waters, Claire House, Anchor Services Group, Brabners, EITC (Everton in the Community), Walker Sime, Cargill/Cargill Cotton, Brock Carmichael Architects, Reflect, If We Ran The Zoo, OBI, Rendall & Rittner, Chapman Taylor, Redwing, German Fisher/Matthews & Goodman, Arup, Griffiths & Armour, Shed KM, Peel NRE’s Ener-Vate and Vital Energi, Curtins, Equans, and Avison Young.

Peel L&P’s Liverpool Waters has supported Claire House for a number of years, helping the charity to develop its new site in West Derby, close to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Currently, families of seriously and terminally ill children are pushed to their limits, making hospice support even more vital. Last year, Claire House cared for 434 children and families.

Liza Marco, Assets Manager at Peel L&P’s Liverpool Waters, said: “It was wonderful to welcome people back to Princes Dock last week for the Liverpool Waters Dragon Boat Race. It was a fantastic day with a great atmosphere as well as a wonderful opportunity to showcase Princes Dock in all its glory to the local community.

“We’d like to say a huge thank you to all of the businesses who took part for helping to make the day a great success and, most importantly, for raising an incredible amount of money for a very important local charity.”

Dan Halliday, Corporate Fundraising Manager at Claire House, said: “We are so proud to once again be the charity partner for the Liverpool Waters Dragon Boat Race. It’s fantastic to see lots of businesses come together and have a great day, but also to raise so much money for Claire House Children’s Hospice which means that we can support local children and families who need us most.

“We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has taken part in the event and to all those businesses who’ve helped to make this happen, including Anchor who’ve made a significant sponsorship donation, and to Liverpool Waters who’ve put so much time and effort into making this happen.”

Andrew Harper, CEO at Anchor Group Services, said: “It's an honour to be the main sponsors of this year's Dragon Boat Race at Liverpool Waters, as well as take part in the race itself. Our team thoroughly enjoyed competing and we're thrilled that such a fantastic amount has been raised for Claire House.”

 If you’d like to make a donation to Claire House Children’s Hospice, please visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Liverpoolwatersdragonboatrace.