Principal and Rector to row, row, row for charity

Published On Thu 17 Mar 2016 by Grant Hill

Professor Sir Pete Downes and Mark Beaumont, Principal and Rector of the University respectively, will next month join members of Dundee University Boat Club for a rowing marathon to help celebrate the club’s 25th anniversary.

The fundraising event on Friday, 1st April will see six rowing machines installed at the University’s Institute for Sports and Exercise, outside Dundee University Students’ Association (DUSA) and outside the Overgate Shopping Centre. Club members will work in shifts from 9am-9pm to try and row a combined distance of 835km – the same amount of terrain that Mark Beaumont covered cycling the North Coast 500 coastal route last year.

Professor Sir Pete will take his turn at the DUSA station from 9am while Mark Beaumont, the man who cycled the world among other long-distance achievements, will be at the Overgate in the afternoon. There will be a spare machine at the Overgate for any members of the public who fancy giving the rowers assistance in their efforts to row the target distance and raise £3000 for the club and Radio Tay’s Cash4kids charity.

Club captain Rory Dyce said, “This is a great chance to celebrate the 25th anniversary of DUBC and raise money at the same time. We aim to raise £3000, with £1000 going to a very worthy cause in cash4kids. The rest will go towards club funds and helping us develop further.

“DUBC humbly began in 1991 with only one boat obtained by a group of enthusiastic student rowers. Over the years the club has gone from strength to strength, buying many more boats, winning races, and eventually constructing a boathouse to store the fleet.

“We have just been awarded Gold Accreditation by the Sports Union in recognition of us being active within the community and showing continuous development. Now, with Rio 2016 lurking the club is sure to boom come September and DUBC has potential to be the biggest it has ever been.”

Once the club members recover from their ‘Ergathon’ they will descend on the Malmaison Hotel on Saturday, 2nd April for a 25th Anniversary Dinner.

Donations can be made via https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/dundeeuniversity-boatclub. 

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
Tel: +44 (0)1382 384768
Mobile: 07854 953277
Email: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk