Cork Dragons ‘blown away’ by award nomination

Cork Dragons are among the nominees in the recreation, sport, health and wellbeing category in the Lord Mayor’s Community and Voluntary Awards.

A dragon boat team based in Cork city, it was founded to support those impacted by cancer, particularly breast cancer survivors and their families. The group provides a community of resilience and support through dragon boating on the river Lee.

The club meets at least twice weekly for training sessions. Members have the option to train socially or at a competitive pace.

Cork Dragons compete in regional and international regattas, while they also host Cork Rebel Regatta for breast cancer teams from across the country.

Dragon boating is an international venture proven to improve fitness levels and rehabilitation following surgery and radiotherapy treatment for breast cancer.

Beneficial

Evidence shows that exercise after any cancer is extremely beneficial, and can cut the risk of recurrence by up to 40%. Being a member of Cork Dragons means that cancer survivors are able to carry out this physical and social activity in a safe, supervised, and fun environment.

Speaking to The Echo, Val Elliffe of Cork Dragons said it is a massive honour for the group to be nominated for a Lord Mayor’s Community and Voluntary Award.

“It gives us a chance to recognise and say thanks to all of our volunteers,” said Ms Elliffe. “Really, our club wouldn’t exist at all without volunteers.

“It is also a chance to show who we are, what we do, and that there is an awful lot of life after a cancer diagnosis.

“It is a great honour for the Cork Dragons to be included because there are so many well-deserving groups and volunteers out there. So to even be considered as a nominee, we were absolutely blown away by it, to be honest.

“Being nominated for the community and voluntary award, it really means a huge amount to us.

“It gives us a chance to turn the spotlight around for once.

“Instead of asking for someone, we are saying thank you to all of the people.”