Sir Trevor McDonald Joins Olympians to Watch City Slickers Row Hard for Neuro-disability

Stars help the RHN raise vital funds

6 June 2011
On Thursday 23 June 2011 Sir Trevor McDonald will join GB Olympic rowers and other sporting personalities on City Hall’s top floor to watch teams from the City’s biggest firms compete in fundraising challenge “Row Hard for Neuro-disability”, sponsored by Stanford Resourcing.
 
Recently awarded a BAFTA fellowship, Sir Trevor McDonald OBE will open the event and GB rowing Olympians will show competitors how it’s done before the 40 teams battle it out on rowing machines, pushing for the fastest time in a 2000m relay.
 
Sir Trevor McDonald says: “What a privilege it is to be involved in this year’s Row Hard. I have worked with the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability for some time now so I know all about the charity’s remarkable work. It will be a brilliant night and all for a great cause.”
 
Now in its second year, Row Hard is raising vital funds for the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability. Attending on the night, Louisa Reeve, GB Women’s Rowing Olympian, says:
 
“Last year's competition was a huge success and loads of fun. This year is set to be even bigger and better - a perfect opportunity for a fun evening combined with fundraising for a very worthwhile charity.”
 
Louisa will be joined by other members of the GB Olympic Rowing team, including Debbie Flood, Hester Goodsell, Charles Cousins, Tash Page, Cam Nicholl and Adam Freeman-Pask, to name just a few.
 
Also attending, sports personality and former England and Wasps RFU player Phil Greening said of the competition:
 
“I'm really excited to be part of Row Hard for Neuro-disability. As a rugby player I see how knocks and falls, in particular head injuries, can affect someone. The RHN is a fantastic organisation caring for people with all sorts of brain injuries. If you fancy a fun night out in aid of a great cause, come and join us on 23 June.”
 
The fundraising target is £25,000, and money raised will be used to help pay for assistive technology, giving patients and residents the crucial gift of communication, often lost after a serious trauma to the brain. This may include, for example, specialist eyegaze technology which allows those who cannot move the ability to speak through a computer simply by using their eyes.
 
This year, Stanford Resourcing is sponsoring the event, Mark Gibbard-Jones, Managing Director says:
 
“We are proud to sponsor the 2011 Row Hard event that will doubtless prove to build upon the success of last year and become a permanent fixture in the City sporting calendar!”
 
If you fancy a challenge and would like to register a team, visit www.rhnrowhard.org.uk  it is just £100 for a team of four (including food and drink). Alternatively, if you prefer to cheer with the celebrities, the cost is just £20 per person and includes food and an alcoholic drink – please call Anna Wall-Budden on 020 8780 4565 to reserve your place!
 

Notes to editors

For further media information, please call the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability Press Office on 020 8785 7844
 
Photo
Sir Trevor McDonald put through his paces by GB Womens Rowing Olympian Louisa Reeve, and former England and Wasps RFU player, Phil Greening
 
For higher resolution photos, please contact Tom Chappell, Press & PR Officer at The Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability on 020 8 785 7844 / 078 9999 4946 / tchappell@rhn.org.uk
 
Row Hard in a nutshell

• Teams of four row 2000m, that’s 500m each
• Costs £100 to register which includes food and alcohol for team members
• Suggested fundraising target is £225 per person or £900 per team
• The event will start at 18.00
• For registration and further details, visit www.rhnrowhard.co.uk

The Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability
The Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability is a national medical charity helping people who are affected by brain injury.  Some have been in car accidents, been mugged or might simply have fallen down the stairs. Others have had a stroke, a heart attack, or have an illness affecting their brain such as multiple sclerosis or Huntington’s disease.

The RHN offers an extensive range of rehabilitation and long-term care services, including specialist therapies and state of the art technology - giving the people we care for the best possible quality of life, whatever their level of ability. The charity must raise over £2m each year so that it can provide the wide range of therapies it currently offers patients, these include Music Therapy, Hydrotherapy, Art sessions and Assistive technology www.rhn.org.uk

Fun facts on rowing:

• British Olympic gold medallist rower Pete Reed has the greatest lung capacity of any sportsman at 11.68 litres - more than 20 pints worth of space to put air in his lungs! (Pete Reed Official Website www.petereed.co.uk/index.php/Biography/)
• Females could not compete in Olympic rowing until 1976 - nearly 50 years after women won the fight to vote in the UK (Official Olympic Website http://www.olympic.org/rowing-equipment-and-history?tab=1)
• The first known ‘modern’ rowing races, began from competition among the professional watermen that provided ferry and taxi service on the River Thames in London. During the 19th century these races were to become numerous and popular, attracting large crowds. (Neil Wigglesworth, Victorian & Edwardian Boating from old photographs, Batsford 1987
• Steve Redgrave won five gold medals at five consecutive Olympic games and is widely respected as Britain's greatest Olympian. Rowing was not his only passion however, and during the 1990's he had a place on the British Bobsleigh team. (www.morethanthegames.co.uk)

General

• With thanks to the Petersham Hotel (Richmond) for assisting with the photograph.