In light of the sad news of the much loved Francis King suffering a severe stroke last December, St. Peter’s College Boat Club decided to join thousands of fellow rowers on the 30th January (Saturday of 2nd Week) in the StrokeforStroke campaign to raise money for work of The Stroke Association. Members of SPCBC hopped on our “much beloved” ergs with the aim of rowing a metre for everyone who suffers a stroke in the UK each year – that’s 150,000! But there was a twist: two teams, headed by the men’s and women’s rowing captains, were to race each other to the 150,000m mark.
The event was a fantastic success, the highlight of which was undoubtedly the attendance of Francis himself, in his first outing from hospital since arriving at the rehabilitation centre before Christmas. The JCR was buzzing, and when Francis began the college song, “With the keys on my chest…”, rowers and non rowers alike joined in. After six hours of tears and sweat, we finally reached 150,000m. Everyone competed in 2km races, but we were also helped along by Francis’ children, Bea and Henry, who raced each other over 1km and cheered many an exhausted participant to the finish.
We are currently nearing our goal of £3000 for The Stroke Association. Please visit ourJustGiving page (www.justgiving.com/spcboatclub) to donate and to leave a message for Francis.
And for an account of the StrokeforStroke event from the local paper, please see:
Together we can help SPCBC to get a fantastic coach and friend back to the Isis and help others throughout the UK in a similar position.
Cat Hirst
Secretary
Secretary
St Peter's College Boat Club 