We’d like to thank all our Ely neighbours for supporting Isle of Ely Rowing Club on Saturday at the Ely Apple Festival. By getting their “apple a day” (or two) from our bake stall and taking part in our Guess the Weight of the Cake competition, these supporters helped us raise almost £800! We are fundraising to replace the club’s main landing stage (an essential bit of kit that lets us safely get people and boats onto the river), and this is a terrific contribution towards the work.

The cakes were homemade by a team of 18 rowers from the club (who still managed to row early on Saturday morning …), and supplemented by a generous contribution from the kitchens of the Royal Standard. Thanks bakers for doing a brilliant job and helping us raise so much towards the landing stage. Everything sold out by the end of the day! Thanks also go to Lyn Haynes for all the event organisation, and to everyone who helped with sales skills and marquee handling on the day.

The Guess the Weight competition was won by R Pegington with a highly impressive guess of 3.63 kg, just a few grams off the true weight of 3.652kg. Congratulations to anyone who guessed close to this!

Besides fundraising, we really enjoyed the chance to meet more locals interested in rowing here in Ely. If this is you, please do get in touch using the contact details here on our website. Isle of Ely Rowing Club is an inclusive club that welcomes lots of beginners every year, besides experienced rowers (and rusty rowers). We offer learn-to-row courses each year, where beginners get instruction in the basics and progress with others in the same boat (pun intended). We also have a partnership with Ely College that gives young people in Ely the chance to start rowing through school, and this highly successful project was recently awarded a Gemini Boat Race Bursary.

To find out more about our fundraising for the landing stage, please take a look at our website and JustGiving page.