A rowing marathon for good causes!

A veteran crew from the Royal Chester Rowing Club have set themselves the challenge of rowing the River Thames from source to city in a coxed eight. Starting on Sunday May 18th  this year, this daunting and formidable target involves a distance of 135 miles rowed over three days - from the river's barely navigable upper reaches down to the spectacular London skyline - with 45 locks to negotiate along the way!

The challenge will demand a significant commitment of training time, fitness and organisation for the squad who’s age ranges from 49 to 67 with an average of 58 years.  Rowing requires a high level of fitness with normal training paddles of 16 miles.  This is a serious athletic endeavour involving rowing for up to 10 hours a day. The extra stamina required to sustain the effort for the challenge distance is being helped by nutritional and training advice from the University of Chester.

To focus motivation the squad will raise as much money as possible in aid of a number of local, national and international charities - representing a wide range of appeal in terms of the benefits they achieve. The crew and support team will personally meet all the costs of staging this challenge ensuring that all donations go to the charities. 

Cash for good causes
The main purpose of the event is to raise money for good causes and a number of charities will benefit from the fund raising efforts.  Two main charities, The Neuro Muscular Centre at Winsford and The Royal Chester Rowing Club Trust will share 50% of donations with the remaining 50% being shared amongst organisations sponsored by crew members.

NeuroMuscular Centre,  Winsford, Cheshire
This is a unique facility within Europe and provides job training, care, employment physiotherapy and support for adults with muscular dystrophy for whom there is no provision available within the NHS.

The Centre provides a range of IT based training courses in partnership with a local Further Education College and specialises in offering NOCN Level 2 Awards in Art and Design.

Funds raised by the Thames Challenge will go towards supporting the training and development of a person with MD to become a graphic designer.  The projected amount of our fundraising will cater for the first couple of years; if we raise more, then the period will be longer.