Builders take to dragon boats to beat £200K for Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital Charity

Construction consultancy, JRA, has joined forces with contractor, Building Services Now (BSN) to sponsor an important event for the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital, in an event which hoped to raise more than £200,000 in a dragon boat race at The Mailbox.

Each boat contained 17 crew paddling their way down 200m of the canal, in three heats, culminating in a final.

“When the hospitals ask for help, you’d have to be hard to say ‘no’ because everyone knows the heroics which go on in these hospitals,” said Darren Perry of BSN. “We did our bit last year – and won Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital’s corporate sponsor of the year – and we’re hoping to do our own bit of heroics in raising a mighty sum for the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Charity.”

BSN has worked constantly for the last three years as a principal construction contractor on behalf of both hospitals together with JRA who design renewable energy systems for new and old buildings, all over the world.

JRA and BSN have partnered together with Vital Services – the estates team working on behalf of the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Trust. Joint projects have included a £6m extension and refurbishment to the Parkview Clinic and building the new Woodlands Bereavement Centre at Women’s Hospital.

“We all work together as a like-minded family. We’re all aware of medical emergencies but the construction industry’s now feeling a sense of urgency as we strive to cut carbon for the sake of the environment and to eradicate fuel poverty,” says JRA’s Richard Twist.