We were delighted to welcome the Mayor for Gosport, Councillor Mrs Zoe Huggins, as she joined us on a rowing challenge at our Maritime workshop. The Mayor has been busy during the month of October taking part in a fundraising ‘Mindful Marathon’ where she will cover 26 miles cycling, walking, swimming…. and in the case of Oarsome Chance, rowing.
We were recently nominated by Councillor Huggins as one of the charities she will be supporting during her year as Mayor of Gosport. So we were delighted to invite the Mayor to join our team of young rowers as part of their training for National Junior Indoor rowing Championships in February.
Councillor Mrs Zoe Huggins joined the year 8 girls rowing team in a friendly team relay row-off against the boys team, including instructors and apprentices. The whole challenge took place outside the workshop with both teams operating under careful covid risk assessment control measures. To balance out the competition, the girls team rowed 10,000 m (the same distance as the Portsmouth Pull rowing challenge) with each member of the team rowing 500 m each turn for 5 turns each. Simultaneously the boys team rowed 15,000 m with the team members rowing between 1000 m and 2000 m each turn. It was a hard-fought battle, with the girls team staying ahead to finish in 53 mins and the male team finishing not far behind in 58 mins.
John Gillard, Principal at Oarsome Chance said “We’re really grateful for the Mayor’s support and we were delighted that she came to join in with some of our young people at the Maritime Workshop. Everyone had a great time with the rowing challenge, next time we’ll get the Mayor rowing on the water!”
The Mayor’s ‘Mindful Marathon’ charity appeal will be highlighting Gosport’s fantastic environment, benefits of outdoor activities as well as groups that support both mind and health. To find out how to donate to the Mayor’s charity appeal, contact Casey Wheeler on 02392 545 201 or email [email protected].
