Raising funds for Birmingham Children’s Hospital (in a dragon boat)

Team WoW (Word360 on Water) took to Birmingham’s canals this weekend, competing against other teams in a traditional dragon boat race to raise money for a very important cause. At the time of writing, we’ve raised almost £1500 and plan to get this all the way to £2550 as you can see HERE 

Some wear tutus and run muddy obstacle courses.

Others run marathons in metal deep-sea diving suits.

We put on fancy dress and crammed ourselves into a canoe with a dragon’s head on it…..obviously.

Why do we want to fundraise?

We’ve grown a brand through creating a business with purpose, and that focus runs through everything we do.

We support important organisations like the NHS through our interpreter network and our business wouldn’t exist without their trust in us.

Paying that back means everything to us.

We’ve seen first-hand the incredible work that Birmingham Children’s Hospital do, through our partnership providing language support to young patients who do not speak English as their first language.

Going into hospital can be a scary time for anyone, but especially for a child with a communication barrier. Our interpreters have a range of specialist experience, from mental health training to crisis management – to help even the tiniest patients feel at ease.

Every year, Birmingham Children’s Hospital helps more than 90,000 children from across the UK. Children’s medicine and equipment is highly specialised, so this comes at a huge cost, only part of which is publicly funded.

We think the work they do is phenomenal and many of our friends and family have benefited from their support over the years – perhaps you have too?

Any money raised right now will go to help equip the hospital’s laparoscopic (key-hole surgery) theatre with equipment like cameras, monitors and lighting which are critical for performing complex surgeries.

So by raising money through silly things like dragon boat races, we do something very serious – helping to save young lives and getting poorly children back home to their families.

If you haven’t already kindly donated there is still time via our Just Giving page HERE

The Dragon Boat Race

It’s not every day you can witness dragon boat racing. Saturday 24th October saw 16 teams take to the Birmingham’s canals to compete in a series of three heats.

What are dragon boats? Here are some things you need to know:

• They are 40-feet long with ornately carved dragon’s heads and tails
• Originating in ancient China, Dragon Boat Racing is now the fastest growing water sport in the world!
• Each team is made up of 16 paddlers and one costumed drummer

Despite her flamingo-like appearance, our drummer and founder Kavita took her responsibility of setting the tempo for each stroke very seriously (losing her voice in the process)!

We were very pleased with our performance, winning two out of our three heats and, although we didn’t make it through to the finals, we’re coming back for the silverware next year!

The rowing was hard work but the team had such a fun day, topped off by learning that the event has raised more than £187,000.

A massive well done to all of the teams who gave up their Saturdays, as well as the volunteers and organisers whose months of hard work and planning made an incredible day possible.

A bit about what we do…

So how do we support our clients?

Find out here:

• Research Charities 
• Birmingham NHS Foundation Case Study
• Video Interpreting

Or just get in touch HERE