We are a group of mums who have formed a Dragon Boat Team, ‘The TDJS Friend’ly Dragons’ and entered The Kingston Dragon Boat Festival on Sunday 21st July! 🐲

Obviously we want to win it 😉, but our chief aim is to raise funds for The Friends of Thames Ditton Junior School and The NSPCC. We have self funded our places, so any money donated goes directly to these charities.

Thames Ditton Junior School is a lovely school, in the heart of the village, for 7-11 year olds. Like all state schools it has been challenged by chronic under-resourcing. The Friends charity really makes a difference by enriching the experience of the children, their academic resources and environment. We would like to increase the plant life in the grounds & play areas 🌿🌳 and provide more creative and performance opportunities for the children. 🎭

Mindful of children less fortunate than our own, we also wanted to raise funds for The N.S.P.C.C. and we will split the proceeds equally with this marvellous charity. 👧🏻

The N.S.P.C.C. has 3 specific goals for the next decade: to ‘Stop Child Abuse and Neglect’, ‘Keep Children Safe Online’ and for ‘Children to feel safe, listened to and supported’. It’s many services include ‘Childline‘, education campaigns (such as ‘Talk Pants’ and ‘Stay Safe’), ‘Report Remove‘ (which empowers young people to have sexual images of themselves removed from the internet) and ‘Net Aware’ -which provides information on apps, games & social media that children have access to. The N.S.P.C.C. works to make the world a safer place for children.

As for our efforts, well we are a bunch of mostly novices, with enthusiasm and spirit on our side! 😁 We are juggling jobs and families and so it’s a challenge to even find the time! 😅

In training, we found the racing part remarkably intense! The races are short but you really have to go all out! Having a great start and timing, so we are all pulling together is critical!💪 Luckily, we have Francesca to bang the drum and shout at us! 🥁

We practised technique and timing in a pub at first, with all sorts of random implements -hockey sticks, spades, a broom etc!!🏑🧹 Luckily, we were in a back room, but I think a few eyebrows were raised at the banging and giggles!

We then graduated onto the river for our training sessions and they were fantastic!🚣‍♀️ I think we all loved it!

We discovered other talent in the boat -chiefly Natalie, who artistically designed our Dragon caps 🧢🐉and Cheryl’s bargain hunting found the neon mesh 👚tops to complete the look of ‘The TDJS Friend’ly Dragons!’

We are really looking forward to race day! Please come down and give us a cheer! In addition to the racing, there is a fun fair, food stalls and other stalls by local traders, so it should be a really great day out.🎡🍕🍦🥗 10-4pm at Canbury Gardens, Lower Ham Road, Kingston, KT2 5AU.

Thank you for your time and generosity.🥰

The TDJS Friend’ly Dragons🐉

Rachel Purcell, Caroline Portch, Claire Marstin, Jenny Morten, Anna Lau, Natalie Graham, Cheryl Atkinson, Francesca Serravalle, Anki Tilley, Jane Stephenson, Sarah Audsley, Liz Bates, Gee Sangkhurang, Teresa Challis, Gemma Mas, Kathryn Naylor and Charlotte Street.

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