A HUGE �20,000 has been raised for St Elizabeth Hospice through a charity dragon boat race.Hundreds of people lined descended on Alton Water for the third annual race to take place in aid of the hospice, based in Foxhall Road, Ipswich.

A HUGE �20,000 has been raised for St Elizabeth Hospice through a charity dragon boat race.

Hundreds of people lined descended on Alton Water for the third annual race to take place in aid of the hospice, based in Foxhall Road, Ipswich.

A total of 18 teams from Suffolk businesses and organisations competed in the ancient Chinese tradition to raise the money for the hospice, which cares for patients in east Suffolk who have a life-limiting illness.

Chinese drums and the Samboomba band provided a colourful soundtrack as each team of ten to fourteen sponsored rowers took part in three races on Saturday, with the fastest crews going through to the finals.

Among the teams were the Vampires, blood specialists from Ipswich Hospital who looked the part in fancy dress complete with fangs.

Team member Sarah Bird set up a tribute fund in memory of her husband Lawrence who was cared for by the hospice.

She said: “I lost my husband Laurie two years ago and my colleagues wanted to do something in his memory.

“They looked at the hospice events diary and came up with the idea of entering a team in the dragon boat race.”

Other teams included Ashton Graham, Port of Felixstowe, Fuller Davies, Healeys Print Group, The Hearing Care Centre, ISG Jackson and Suitcase TV.

Patsy Johnson, events coordinator at St Elizabeth Hospice, said: “The Dragon Boat Race event has proved a big success and the companies which took part said it was great for team building, motivation and staff morale.

“Some teams took it more seriously than others but everybody seemed to have a whale of a time.”

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