On Friday 15th September, the last day of London International Shipping Week 2023, teams from the shipping industry raced to raise much-needed funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH).
This annual event is organised by Spinnaker’s Chairman Phil Parry and to date has raised £2.7 million for the OSCAR campaign, the namesake of his son Oscar who received life-saving care from GOSH when he was very young.
The OSCAR campaign funds vital research and treatments, and this year is funding research into the new CAR-T cell therapy which aims to help save the lives of children who relapse after their initial treatment for leukaemia.
This year’s event has raised a record £405,000 which is the biggest fundraising amount since the launch of the campaign back in 2011.
The fundraising total includes a minimum of £5,000 raised by every team who participates, sponsorship of the bar from Oldendorff, revenue from spectator tickets and JustGiving donations.
Twenty-two teams participated this year; Spinnaker, Oldendorff, Union Maritime, A.M.Nomikos, NorthStandard , Oceonix, JP Morgan, Munich Re, ONE (Ocean Network Express), Thomas Miller, Cheniere, CoolCo, Lomar Shipping, Steamship Mutual, Miller Insurance, UK P&I, Conyers, Britannia P&I, Tysers, Navigator Gas and two teams for the Baltic Exchange.
Winners of the event this year were Dragon Race newbies, Cheniere with a winning time of just over 1min 16 seconds. They narrowly beat UK P&I who came 2nd, with Navigator Gas coming in 3rd place.
Sara Stahl, LNG Charterer of winning team Cheniere and organiser of their squad told us “It was the first time that Cheniere has been involved in Spinnaker’s Dragon Boat race, but it won’t be the last! It was an excellent event, and we are staggered by the amount raised for Great Ormond Street. It just shows what the shipping industry can do when they come together.”
“I am constantly amazed by the generosity of the shipping industry” says organiser Phil Parry, Chairman of maritime people experts Spinnaker and Chair of the OSCAR Campaign. “This year the amount of fundraising has been phenomenal, and a special mention needs to go to Union Maritime who raised more than £300,000 with the support of their brokers and other business partners. The OSCAR Campaign proves how generous and big-hearted shipping people are. I’m proud to be a part of this industry; lives are being saved around the world by new treatments that weren’t possible even a few years ago thanks to shipping.”
You can view all the photos from this year’s event here. The photos were taken by Tim Browne who gives his time for free every year. Take a look at his website www.timbrowne.co.uk as he is a professional business coach and presenter.
You can see the fundraising totals and there is still time to donate to your favourite team via the Just Giving page. https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/oscardragonboatrace2023
For details about next year’s event email Helen & Phil [email protected]
A short film about the dragon boat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcDchrW11tM
