I'm joining 15 other dads from my son & daughters' school to row in the Dragonboat Festival at Bewl Water in Kent on September 11 and we really need your support. We've been training hard at Millwall Docks and also in the school hall with tennis racquets for paddles.

It's a knock-out competition, so we're hoping to reach the final but, more importantly, we'd like to raise lots of money.

The money we raise will be split evenly between new computers for the school and DebRA (a national charity working on behalf of people in the UK with the genetic skin blistering condition Epidermolysis Bullosa or EB) and our team's target is a massive £10,000. 
 
EB is a (thankfully) very rare genetic condition which means the slightest knock can cause a child's skin and internal body linings to blister, causing painful wounds. DebRA provides support to children (& their families) to help them grow up to live as normal a life as possible. For instance, on their web-site you can read about Dean who's 27 and has lived with appalling pain all his life but with DebRA's support (& a lot of courage and determination on his part) has recently learnt to drive.