A ‘crew’ of employees from Southampton-based water engineering and construction company Trant has raised more than £3,000 for WaterAid as part of Thames Water’s annual Raft Race.
The action-packed event involved 20-plus teams gathering by Reading Rowing Club before battling against high winds, rough waves and pirates in their bid to win the one-mile paddling race.
Immersed in the pre-race team talks and motivational speeches, the team were behind at the start but regained ground, so to speak, finishing well up the rankings and coming home to a hero’s welcome from a steel band.
The team from Trant, which employs 700 people, also received the award for best-dressed team.
Ben Travers, a mechanical design engineer, said: “It was a great afternoon on the river, raising an impressive sum of money for a fantastic cause. We’d like to thank our sponsors, including our water industry clients and suppliers, for digging deep.”
The event follows another WaterAid fundraiser by Trant, when 14 employees climbed 873m (2,864 ft) Corn Du in the Brecon Beacons, South Wales, in a day-long national peaks event earlier this summer.
Trant, which has a water engineering division, aims to raise £10,000 this year for WaterAid as part of the company’s on-going commitment to the charity’s work in improving safe water supplies in poor countries.
