And they’re off… Cardiff Rivers Group take to the water

It started as most great ideas do, over a beer at a group committee meeting on the 28th of December 2012.  Our mission, (should we choose to accept it) will be to build a raft to enter in the Llandaff Charity Raft Race on the River Taff on 9th June 2013.

After much discussion, it was unanimously agreed that we would indeed enter the race and the serious discussions over designs began ...losing was not an option!

The event will not only show-off our engineering skills, but also provides a great opportunity to raise some funds for 2 great charities: Keep Wales Tidy and the George Thomas Hospice.

The CRG Fundraising Page is now live HERE. Please let your friends know and encourage them to donate!

Keep Wales Tidy are supporting their 40th anniversary in 2013 and encouraging groups to take part in a Big 40 fundraising event. After all the support they have given over the years in getting CRG off the ground, this event is a great way to thank them and help celebrate their anniversary.

Work commences....

Work commences on the raft

February:

• Chris Hackett secured sponsorship from his company, Cunningham Lindsey, to cover the £100 entry fee. Dave King registered our entry and we we’re off! 

March:

• A ‘sub’ committee of CRG was formed to lead the mammoth task, headed by Matt Blick and supported by Hugh Kettle. The serious business of planning then began with Matt producing an elaborate raft design, worthy of a QE2 refit! 
• A materials list was compiled and all CRG members were tasked with putting their ‘wombling’ skills to the test to source free materials. 

The raft takes shape

April:

• Matt secured support from Dutchwood, who have kindly agreed to provide us with a build site in Pontcanna.
• A new sub-committee member, Monkey Rich, was recruited in the Halfway pub. Working for HarrisPye, Rich has plenty of boat construction experience and is a great addition to the team. He has agreed to provide some of the key materials and use his build expertise for the raft.
• Dave and Matt obtained some large pallets from the heliport and on the 20th of April, raft construction started in earnest.
• By the end of April all paddles had been made from plastic barrels and wood (Ash poles) supplied by the Roundhouse Group.  Pallets have been deconstructed and reconstructed into 4 I beams, while the main giant pallet has been strengthened and extended. Many splinters later, we are now waiting for delivery of the barrels that will get us afloat. We may even be ahead of schedule! 

We still have lots of work to do, but so far so good!

Without the fantastic support of our sponsors, we couldn’t have got this far, so a big thank you to Cunningham Lindsey, Dutchwood and HarrisPye.