Latest / The PCR Sports Show / The PCR Sports Show - Friday 21st November 2025 - with Alicja Mierzejewska from New Wave Events

Transcript

The PCR Sports Show - Friday 21st November 2025 - with Alicja Mierzejewska from New Wave Events · The PCR Sports Show

0:16
Welcome to PCR Sports good evening, I'm dipam and welcome
0:20
to the PCR sport show myself and Nigel this week.
0:23
Thanks for joining us. The weather's turned nasty and
0:26
cold and hopefully you're at home warmed up and listening to
0:30
us, which is fantastic. Thank you very much.
0:32
It's our weekly sports show on PCR FM and got a great show
0:37
planned for this evening. We've got Alicia Green on from
0:39
the exec from the New Wave Events Agency and she's the
0:43
executive director there and they are responsible for
0:46
organising the Dragon Boat Festival in Peterborough every
0:49
year amongst various other things that they do as well.
0:51
So we'll be looking ahead to the next festival coming up in the
0:55
middle of next year and looking back at previous festivals and
0:58
she'll be telling us all about the experiences they've had and
1:01
how you can get involved as well.
1:03
Because it's a great charity event for a lot of good causes
1:06
in the city. So it's very much local and in
1:09
the heart of our communities. But first, let's get started off
1:13
with our headlines this week. And Nigel's got them for us.
1:16
Hey, Nigel, how are you? Yeah, very good.
1:17
Thank you. How are you?
1:18
Very good. Thank you all.
1:19
Excellent. OK, the headlines for this
1:22
evening. Ben Woods and Brandon Kayla
1:24
opened their goal account for Posh as they beat league leaders
1:27
Stockport three nil at the Western Home Stadium on on
1:31
Thursday. Sorry.
1:32
That's four wins from 4 since new manager Luke Williams was
1:36
installed as manager in place of club legend Darren Ferguson.
1:40
Carl Lisby scored the other goal for Posh as they climbed to 21st
1:45
in the table. Just one point now from safety,
1:49
no game for Posh this weekend. They are next in action against
1:52
local rivals Stevenage at home on Tuesday evening with a 745
1:56
kick off. The lack of football at Posh
1:59
this weekend means it's an ideal opportunity to pop along to
2:03
Pym's Park and watch Peterborough Sports try to
2:05
improve their lowly league position.
2:08
The Turbines are up against 4th place Radcliffe and will
2:11
undoubtedly face another stiff test.
2:14
They're going to Saturday's game with the stern words from
2:17
manager Phil Brown around their commitment still ringing in
2:20
their ears. Brown wasn't happy with the
2:22
performance at Darlington on Tuesday evening when they came
2:25
away with A52 defeat after being 41 down at half time.
2:30
He's demanding a performance on Saturday and has urged fans to
2:33
come and watch his team who have a good home record since his
2:36
arrival in Peterborough. The game kicks off at Pymm's
2:39
Park at 3:00 PM in Snooker Legends Tour returns to
2:44
Peterborough on Sunday with the Players Tournament taking place
2:48
at Broadway Club. Many of the country's leading
2:51
amateurs will be playing alongside some local stars as
2:54
they battle it out for the £500 first prize.
2:58
Harvey Chandler, flying in from Qatar after reaching the semi
3:01
finals of the IBSF World Championship last week, will be
3:06
among the favourites, beginning his quest for the title against
3:10
last year's finalist Stephen Waldron.
3:13
Local interest sees Steve Martin playing former world amateur
3:16
champion Luke Simmons while both Paul Newman and Vaughan Lutkin
3:21
have tough assignments against Southend's Matt Glaspy and
3:24
Ipswich's Courtney Simmons respectively.
3:28
A pair of promising that young Peterborough based boxers will
3:31
make their England debuts next month.
3:34
Reggie Baker of the Police Club and Top Yard Boxing Clubs Jerry
3:37
Mike Connors will both win their first England bests in an
3:42
international contest against Wales in Cardiff on the 6th of
3:45
December. Connors who is just 16 is the
3:49
top yard fighter, first top yard fighter to win an England call
3:53
up while Baker is a 16 year old sixth form student at Stand
3:57
Ground Academy. He sparred with England
3:59
Performance Squad in Tamworth recently and has been on the
4:03
England talent pathway for some time.
4:06
Peterborough Police Boxing Club sent fighters to Stoke and
4:09
Halstead on Sunday and recorded three wins from 4 bouts.
4:14
Yanis Roman, 15 years old, collected his third win in a row
4:18
since joining the city stable by seeing off local lad Callum
4:22
Buxton in Stoke at 53 kilograms. Roman followed coach Paul Good's
4:27
instructions perfectly to win deservedly on points.
4:31
The club have high hopes for a teenager who is growing in
4:34
confidence quickly in hockey. City of Peterborough men scored
4:38
back-to-back national middling conference wins at the weekend
4:42
with a 21V over Barford Tigers and the City side of every
4:47
chance of completing the hat trick as they visit bottom club.
4:50
University of Birmingham seconds next on Sunday.
4:54
City of 4th level on points with 3rd place team going into that
4:59
game. Meanwhile, there's no stopping
5:01
the Ladies in East Division One. Top scorer Lily Craven scored
5:05
four goals, including the first half hat trick as they won nine
5:08
nil against bottom side Ipswich Seconds.
5:11
That's now eight wins in nine matches for the City of
5:14
Peterborough Ladies, which is enough to top the table going
5:17
into their game at Sudbury tomorrow.
5:20
Peterborough and Neem Valley Athletic Club picked up one
5:23
individual and two team bronze medals at the Eastern Athletics
5:28
Association Cross Country Championships held at Horse
5:31
Heath near Haverhill. It was a good day for veteran
5:34
athlete Paul and coach Paul Larkins.
5:37
He used to race against the best in the world but has adjusted
5:40
his sights as the years have gone by and now coaches many of
5:44
the pan back youngsters. The under 15 and under 17 boys
5:49
teams both won bronze with six of the scoring athletes being
5:53
members of Larkin's training group and he then went and won a
5:57
medal himself, finishing third in the over 60s race.
6:00
And those are the headlines this week.
6:04
Thank you, Nigel, lots going on as always.
6:07
You're obviously a keen follower of Peterborough sports.
6:10
You go home and away. And strong words from Phil Brown
6:14
about his boys. Do you think I'll sink in?
6:18
Let's hope so. He yeah, he was scathing after
6:22
Darlington. I think that's the first time
6:24
he's been here where they completely haven't turned up.
6:27
And, you know, not many positives from that game at all.
6:30
Four one down at half time. Took one of the centre halves
6:34
off after about 25 minutes. So yeah, big, big problems
6:39
there. But let's hope so.
6:40
We've had a run of away games and long trips now we've got 2
6:44
back-to-back home games against Radcliffe tomorrow and then
6:49
local dive against Bedford Town on Tuesday.
6:51
So ideal opportunity to get a few points on the board and
6:56
finish the month strong and then it will be overall be good
6:59
November for them, yeah. OK, there's been, you know,
7:02
notable improvement generally, hasn't it, from the start of the
7:04
season, Maybe not on the level that Posh have improved under
7:08
Luke Williams. I'm not trying to make a
7:09
comparison in that sense. But having said that, it's it's
7:13
it's looking better than it was. And and like I say, these long
7:16
away trips sort of do 'cause fatigue eventually, don't they?
7:20
Absolutely, yeah. I mean, if you don't accept a
7:23
contract in British football, if you're not prepared to sit on a
7:26
coach for four hours, I think there's a lot of teams that do a
7:29
lot of travelling. But yeah, it's the players get
7:33
used to it. Peterborough sports are of
7:36
course part time clubs. So these guys are some of the
7:39
guys have got jobs as well. So you know, it is difficult to
7:42
fit it all in. But they're getting more and
7:45
more professional as time goes on and they have their own bus
7:47
now. So, you know, we can get on the
7:49
coach, turn up all as a team and and you know, that looks a lot
7:53
more professional. So things are improving.
7:57
It's important that the teams stay up and I think they've got
8:01
everything in place to to make that happen.
8:04
November has been tricky. It always was going to be tricky
8:08
and we've had a couple of poor results, a couple of games that
8:11
have gone against us with decisions, really, really poor
8:14
decisions. But overall, like I say,
8:18
back-to-back home games now, 1 is very tough, one is very, very
8:23
winnable. So let's see where we are.
8:26
And then we finished the month off with probably the longest
8:29
trip all of all to South Shields.
8:32
Absolutely, yes. Mammoth trip just around the
8:36
approach of Christmas. So right.
8:38
Thank you, Nigel. And obviously you'll keep us up
8:40
to date through our various media posts about the club with
8:44
your reports, which has been fantastic and on our YouTube
8:47
channel as well. So yeah.
8:49
Go and follow our YouTube channel PCR Sports.
8:52
Brilliant. Thank you, Nigel.
8:53
Right. Let's take a short break, then
8:55
we'll be back in a few minutes. We'll be speaking to Alicia
8:57
Green, who's the executive director at New New Wave Events,
9:01
and they're responsible for putting on the Dragon Boat
9:04
Festival in Peterborough. So we're hearing more about that
9:06
in a few minutes. Stay tuned, it's PCR FM.
9:09
You're listening to PCR sports. Good evening and welcome back to
9:23
the PCR Sports Show with myself, Dipam and Nigel this week.
9:27
You can keep in touch with us through our socials even when
9:29
we're not on the air. So please do if you've got any
9:31
updates, any news or anything you want to inform us about the
9:35
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9:37
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9:48
us a shout. And as Nigel mentioned before
9:50
the break, we've got a YouTube channel as well, PCR Sports,
9:53
where we upload our visual media thanks to Nigel.
9:57
So do have a look at that when you've got a chance as well.
10:01
So right back to this evening's guests, Alicia Green, the
10:05
Executive Director of New Wave Events, who are responsible for
10:08
organising the Dragon Boat Festival in Peter, which has
10:11
been going for many, many years, I think goes into his 26th year.
10:16
And they've organised certainly the last few of them.
10:18
So Alicia, good evening. Welcome to the show.
10:21
Thank. You for having me pleasure.
10:23
Always. I know you've spoken with us on
10:25
the phone before, but it's nice to have you in the studio and at
10:27
least I'm. Not going to cut out this stuff.
10:29
Yeah, absolutely. There's always a risk with
10:31
signal, isn't there? So this is brilliant.
10:33
So in touch with nothing will happen to our microphones.
10:36
Or our. Connection today?
10:37
No, it should be OK. Fingers crossed.
10:39
So, I mean, tell us a little bit about yourself and the new wave,
10:43
new wave, Yeah, new wave events organization to how you got
10:46
involved in it and you know, your passion with organising
10:50
events, Yes. So I mean, I've got events
10:53
background, went to uni to do events management, but how it
10:57
started as me and Lucy used to work for company who used to run
11:00
it for many, many years and then they decided, decided to retire
11:03
during COVID. The owners did and we just
11:07
decided to take the opportunity and start a new wave of events.
11:09
So we've been going five years now and it's going strong.
11:12
Fantastic. It's good to hear, and getting
11:15
through the COVID period would have been challenging itself, so
11:17
yeah. It gave us time to, you know,
11:19
rebrand everything, made it fresh on hours.
11:21
So yeah, no, it it was good time to kind of make sure that
11:24
everything looks and is as it should be.
11:27
Fantastic. Good, good.
11:28
It's good to that legacy, it continues because I say you, you
11:31
both had the working experience with the organization and then
11:34
you can now I guess shape it more into your style how you
11:37
want it and move it forward into into the sort of future.
11:41
So which is good. So, so the Dragon Boat Festival
11:44
obviously is, is one of many things that you organise as an
11:48
organization. You do do lots of things.
11:50
What what give us some examples of what sort of events and
11:53
things that you you offer. Yeah.
11:54
So we do a lot of corporate team building events, so indoor and
11:58
outdoor. So corporate race night for
12:00
example, a bit sporty if you fancy some, you know, evening
12:03
entertainment. We do like fun money casino
12:06
tables if you have a Christmas party to do.
12:09
And we do a lot of structured team building events like like,
12:12
you know, based off TV shows such as the Cube and stuff like
12:15
that. So yeah.
12:18
So plenty of events in the winter.
12:20
And then we obviously specialized in dragon boat
12:22
racing in the summer. We can do.
12:24
It's A Knockout event style. Do you know multi activity
12:27
inflatables, anything you can think of?
12:29
Pretty much. Sounds amazing, so if anyone's
12:32
listening and they want to, if you want some entertainment for
12:35
your Christmas party, then the casino table might be the
12:37
answer. Yep.
12:38
Please enquire if you need anything.
12:41
New wave, wave events and Alicia Green is the lady you need to
12:44
speak to. So obviously one of the bigger
12:47
things that you do is, is the Dragon Boat Festival, not just
12:50
in Peterborough, but you do that over the country.
12:52
But obviously we're interested more in the Peterborough one
12:56
celebrated it's 25th event earlier this year, which is an
13:00
absolute amazing achievement to have that happening annually
13:04
over the years. And how did that event go?
13:08
Yeah, it was, it was sunny, it was lovely weather, it was very
13:12
busy. It went as it should.
13:14
So we are happy, had loads of teams and raised loads of money
13:18
for Sue Rodeo Football Hospice. So that's all we can ask for
13:21
really. Absolutely.
13:22
How does the Peterborough event compare with other events you do
13:25
in the country? Is it the?
13:27
Best. Biggest and.
13:29
Best you want to say? No, it's I think Peterborough
13:34
has always had a special place in our heart because of, you
13:38
know, it's close to us because we're local.
13:41
So, you know, we always enjoy it because we don't have to travel
13:45
far for it. No, but no, a lot of the
13:50
festivals we do are quite local. But no, it's a, it's a great
13:52
event and we love them all. I mean.
13:55
Because the facilities, I mean, obviously I don't know about
13:58
other towns and cities, but in particular, you know, we've had
14:01
the the Peterborough Rowing Club on before and but the facilities
14:04
in Peterborough are fantastic, aren't they?
14:05
For the event, yeah. It's it's great viewing.
14:07
You know, all the gazebos can go along the stretch of the rowing
14:10
lake. It's perfect in terms of dragon
14:12
boat racing. It's made for rowing, but we
14:14
might as well paddle on it. Absolutely.
14:16
Yeah, it makes. It makes sense, doesn't it?
14:18
Absolutely. So tell, tell us a little bit
14:20
about about dragon boat racing, you know, you know, how long has
14:24
it been in the country and what are the origins of it?
14:27
A. Lot longer than me, definitely.
14:31
But no, it's been probably over 30 years, maybe 40.
14:35
Not not sure on exact date, but obviously originated from China.
14:38
It's a Chinese tradition and it turned into a very popular
14:42
charity fundraising event and corporate team building because
14:47
it's just great because. It is is they say the team
14:51
building aspect of it is, is superb, isn't it?
14:53
Because it, it is a lot of team effort.
14:55
You can't, you know, individuals can't try and do more than any
14:59
others. It's got to require
15:00
coordination, planning and and level of strategies in it to,
15:03
to, to make it succeed. Yeah.
15:05
I mean, you know, even beforehand, before you go on the
15:08
water, you have to talk tactics, you have to speak to each other
15:12
and you have to connect, you know, to be a team.
15:14
So when they go out on the water, they do have to be in
15:16
time and they have to work together to go faster.
15:18
So they're kind of having team building about knowing it.
15:21
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
15:24
So tell us a little bit about the actual the actual activity
15:27
itself. You know how many people are
15:29
normally in a boat? What's the kind of structure of
15:33
it and the detail of it so? This event can have up to 60
15:37
corporate or community teams that can enter each team.
15:42
Each boat can be made of 10 paddlers and 1 drummer.
15:45
And then we have one of our staff members from UAF events
15:48
who will steal the boat, so to make sure that we go straight.
15:51
So 10 paddlers and a drummer for the team.
15:53
You can have reserves if you like, just to swap out in
15:56
between the rounds. Yeah.
15:59
You can bring family and friends on the day.
16:01
You can book a gazebo if you like, or bring your own and just
16:04
make a day out of it. Yeah.
16:05
Sounds good. And presumably not up to 60
16:08
people and 60 teams are on the lake at the same time.
16:10
It's it's done in heat, I guess with with so many limited
16:13
numbers at the same time. Is it?
16:14
Yeah. Definitely, so we've got at
16:16
Peterborough we've got 3 rounds, semi finals in the final, so
16:20
each team will have three goes and if they're good enough
16:24
they'll then have semi finals in the final and we will have 5
16:27
boats at a time on the water, so 5 boat racing.
16:30
It's quite a spectacular view to see five boats racing at the
16:34
same time going in the straight line.
16:36
Excellent. And you mentioned obviously some
16:39
of the other activities that are there on the day as well.
16:43
What can visitors kind of expect from from the the day apart from
16:47
the racing, You know, the food, music, stores, any sort of
16:50
culture. Exactly what you said, no, we'll
16:53
have you know, it's free to spectators.
16:56
It's always great for children to watch these sort of things,
16:59
so we'll have a fun fair on the day.
17:01
We also have a new thing next year, which is a dragon head
17:04
workshop, which might be quite exciting and quite spectacular
17:08
to just watch so children can learn how to make dragon head
17:11
and just play around with it. So yeah, that's one thing that
17:15
we're going to have new, and we're going to have face painter
17:17
as well. Stalls, food stalls, you know,
17:21
so if you fancy pizza or a burger, you can grab it there.
17:24
But yeah, what's happening? What?
17:27
What sort of teams enter? Do you get sports teams entering
17:30
and work teams? Yeah.
17:31
So it's mostly corporate, so mostly companies.
17:34
We do had, we had maybe one like 1 stag before stag party coming.
17:38
That was fun. They were all dressed up for
17:41
amazingly. But no, anyone can enter as long
17:44
as they can put a team together, you know, So we had 50th
17:48
birthday celebrations, that sort of thing.
17:50
So so do. Do all the teams dress up?
17:53
Most, yeah, well we encourage it anyway because there is a fancy
17:56
dress prize. So yeah, we definitely want to
17:59
see the more coloured the better under the absolutely.
18:02
And it's minimum team of 11, you say 10. 10 paddlers in the drama
18:05
yeah 11 yeah you can have few less you know you can have but
18:09
you're. Obviously at a disadvantage
18:10
maybe. Some may say the boat might be
18:14
lighter so it might go quicker, you know, so it does balance
18:16
out. But yes you can have few less if
18:18
you don't have a full team. And if you want to have a full
18:21
team you can always grab someone from the sidelines.
18:23
I'm sure there's some volunteers they would love to get on the
18:25
dragon boat. Fantastic.
18:27
Sounds fascinating. Obviously it takes place in the
18:31
heart of the city. For those that don't know, just
18:32
remind us where this event takes place, yes?
18:35
So it's at Peterborough Rowing Lake and next year the date is
18:39
20th of June. Brilliant.
18:41
So again, it's middle of the year and weather hopefully.
18:45
Now there should be lovely day, yeah?
18:47
Absolutely. And obviously it's close to the
18:50
Sue Rider Home, which has always been a charity at the heart of
18:52
the event for for many, many years.
18:54
And I mean, do you know if the top of your head how much money
18:59
has been raised with Sue right over the years?
19:01
I'm putting a little bit on the spot, yeah.
19:03
Yeah, I didn't calculate that, but no.
19:06
Runs in hundreds annually. It raises between 20 to 30 to
19:09
40,000. You know, the more you guys and
19:12
everyone makes the awareness of the event, the more we can
19:15
fundraise and the more successful will be for the
19:18
charity. So.
19:19
But no, it's been, I mean, it's raised thousands of pounds, so
19:22
over the years. It's been running for 26 years
19:25
and Sue Raider Football Hospice were part of it for a few years
19:29
now. So yeah, definitely, yeah.
19:33
Absolutely superb charity to, to support and, and yeah, going
19:38
into the 26th year now, which, was there any kind of
19:43
celebrations or marking of the 25th event this year?
19:49
Not exactly. We had a Chinese lion dance
19:51
performance, but we didn't celebrate it like we should.
19:54
Probably because we're too busy planning the events.
19:57
But no. But just.
19:58
I guess there's a feeling proud the fact that it's.
20:00
The 25th event yeah now we always have a fly pass.
20:03
Then, you know, we take a minute to just enjoy the event and just
20:06
watch what's happening and just appreciate it.
20:08
So what's the. Fly pass then.
20:10
So like RAF Fly pass so we book aeroplane to fly across the
20:17
roaming lake above us. Fantastic.
20:20
That's really. I didn't realise that, yes.
20:21
We booked them in and sometimes we get them, sometimes we don't.
20:24
But yeah, they're quite popular for plane lovers.
20:26
Yeah, Yeah. So sometimes they just come on
20:28
the day just to watch the planes.
20:29
But yeah. Oh.
20:31
Superb, fantastic, right? Let's just take another short
20:34
break there and then we'll be back with Dalits here in a few
20:36
minutes. Talking more dragon boats.
20:38
Stay tuned, it's PCRFM. You're listening to PCR sports.
20:58
Welcome back to the PCR Sports Show with myself, Dipam and
21:02
Nigel. This week you can listen to us
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21:35
So yeah, we'd love your company at any time that you can join in
21:39
Tonight's guest, Alicia Green from the new Wave events
21:43
organization. She's the executive director
21:45
alongside partner Lucy and they run been running the event,
21:50
sorry, running the organization for a few years took it over
21:53
from a retiring couple right in the heart of lockdown, which
21:57
seems like a challenging time to to be able to do that.
21:59
So, Felicia, tell us about that decision, you know.
22:04
We're going to take risks sometimes, don't we?
22:07
No, it was, we couldn't say no. It was, you know, we had to
22:11
carry on. We were already worked doing
22:14
dragon boat racing and we knew that carrying it on would help a
22:18
lot of charities in the long run and also, you know, continue
22:22
giving jobs to the people that we worked with for the last few
22:25
years, you know, So we decided to take the risk and yeah, it
22:30
paid. Off amazing and well done on
22:33
that, but it does sound like an alcohol fuel decision.
22:39
Well, it was, it was clear. It was a clear decision.
22:43
But yeah, we, you know, we had a drink celebrating when we
22:46
started and, you know, coming up with the Neat team with the
22:49
company name, you know, how are we going to run it and what's
22:53
going to happen? So amazing.
22:55
So, and was the Dragon Boat Festival kind of one of the key
22:59
reasons why you felt that you needed to continue with with the
23:02
business? Yeah.
23:03
So obviously there was a lot of clients, charities that worked
23:07
with the previous company and we knew that everything when
23:10
everything settles down, there'll still be an interest in
23:13
dragon boat racing and we wanted to carry on.
23:16
So we knew that, you know, buying those boats would give,
23:20
you know, charities again an opportunity one come out of
23:24
COVID times and make sure that they get the fundraising again.
23:27
And yeah, just do you. Do any other events for charity
23:31
or is it only the Dragon boaters charity?
23:32
We do some other charity events, you know, we can do a corporate
23:35
race night as well that you can do fundraising for.
23:37
But yeah, we do mainly for charities.
23:39
We do dragon boat racing, but we're working on it, so yeah.
23:43
Excellent. So and and since you obviously
23:46
took over the company or start, let's say since you started new
23:48
wave rather than taking over the company because it's a different
23:50
brand. So what have you kind of done
23:52
differently to previously or added to to to what you do I?
23:56
Think we just we chose a different colour palette.
23:59
We kept the pink they had pink tops on a day we kept the pink
24:02
tops. You know, we like yes, the
24:05
legacy carries on, but no, we we made a bit how we like it, you
24:11
know, with an aim of growing new wave events to be an only a
24:16
dragon back company, but also corporate team building company
24:19
and we'll be able to deliver a lot more events.
24:22
So I mean we continue it growing.
24:25
It's not like we just did one thing and then stopped.
24:27
We it's always changing and it's always adapting.
24:30
You know, now we've got chat TVT that we need to consider, you
24:33
know, all these things. So it's never, you know, one job
24:36
and down and we constantly have to evolve and change and it's.
24:39
Kind of tapping into what the corporates want, isn't it really
24:41
Well, because the the corporate world changes the the outlook,
24:45
the social outlook of people changes.
24:47
So you know, what's on trend, what are people looking at?
24:49
And, and I guess comparing an organization run by people who
24:54
are retiring to, to younger people like yourself and Lucy,
24:57
there's naturally going to be a difference of ideas and, and
25:00
strategies and that, you know. We kept what worked because they
25:03
did run these events and the company very, very well and you
25:07
know, it's been a great company. So we kept a lot of the things.
25:11
We just modernised it a bit in terms of the system, you know,
25:14
how we actually booked the events and run them.
25:17
So yeah, but on the day, you know, you can expect exactly the
25:21
same thing as they had. We added maybe a little bit of
25:24
like live results on the day with a QR code.
25:26
So instead of you're having to go to the scoreboard, you can
25:29
just scan the QR code from your gazebo and just access the
25:31
results on the day. So.
25:32
So again. Just modern user technology.
25:34
Yes, we just wanted to add a few bits that will make it a bit
25:37
more. Accessible.
25:40
Yeah, Yeah. Wonderful.
25:41
That's fantastic, I think. I think.
25:43
You said 60 teams in the Peterborough event.
25:45
It how's that team? What's that looking like to
25:48
recruit? Is that a a difficult job to
25:50
recruit that amount of teams? Yeah.
25:52
I mean, the event has been going for a few years.
25:54
A lot of local people know about it and a lot of companies do
25:57
come back every year, which we're very grateful for.
26:00
Come back for 2026? No, but you know, the event is
26:04
known by a lot of companies and a lot of people and it is now a
26:08
flagship event in Peterborough, so it's not as hard anymore.
26:14
Obviously, we still have to market it.
26:15
We still have to pull banners out.
26:17
We still have to distribute Flyers and make sure that people
26:19
hear when it is and what time it is and you know what's
26:21
happening. But yeah, it's maybe not 6, to
26:26
be honest. The 60 teams has only been for
26:28
the last year. This year it's been previously
26:31
48 teams. OK, so it's growing.
26:33
Yeah. So we now, because the event has
26:35
been selling out for the few years that have been running it,
26:37
we wanted to increase the amount of teams, make it bigger and
26:40
better. So, I mean, we've not had 6060
26:43
teams this year, but hopefully next year we will, yeah.
26:46
And is 60 the maximum we can have because of the at the?
26:49
Moment like yeah, yeah, it's it would be quite a lot of boats on
26:52
the water otherwise and getting teams onto the water sometimes
26:55
they're challenging and absolutely yeah.
26:59
Brilliant. And so on the on the subject of
27:02
the next event in 2026, June the 20th, when is the, I suppose the
27:07
official launch of the event, when can people start applying
27:09
from and what's the process now going forward?
27:11
So save the date has gone out to all the previous entries.
27:15
We are hoping to open the entries on the 8th of December.
27:18
So yes. So we're nearly ready.
27:21
I'm just doing last few touches, but if you head over to our
27:24
website or on our socials, you'll be able to see a link to
27:29
enter or just see what's happening on the day just to
27:32
find out a bit more about the event.
27:35
But yeah. And then in the February, we've
27:37
got a Serpentine Green promo day if you want to see the dragon
27:40
boat before the event itself. Yes.
27:42
So you can actually get hands on with a boat, yes.
27:45
You can take a photo in there. You can actually sit inside.
27:48
So it's quite a good opportunity for children to, you know, get
27:50
in because we don't usually have time to let them go in the boat
27:53
and take photos and what's. The date of the Serpentine green
27:56
again. It is in February.
27:58
Just give, give me one second. Certainly I agree.
28:01
I know you had one last year as well, didn't you?
28:02
28th, 28th of February, last day of February, I think it's not
28:06
leap year far as I'm aware. So, yeah, get along that because
28:10
that's a real, that's a good chance to, to meet you guys from
28:13
New Wave, some of the partner organizations and also like you
28:16
say, get in and out, in and around the boat itself, which
28:20
gives a good feel to it and how, how close to the event and you
28:24
can still accept entries. Yeah.
28:26
I mean, we close entries probably 2-3 weeks beforehand.
28:29
However, obviously if the if it does sell out earlier, which
28:32
usually for 48 teams, it does sell out about March time.
28:35
So we just encourage people to enter as soon as they can get
28:39
that approval. Yeah.
28:41
Absolutely, and any teams entering like you say majority
28:44
of teams barring the odd stag event.
28:45
Majority of teams are corporate events so they can also do off
28:50
off lake events and and and participation with other sort of
28:53
networking opportunities as well.
28:55
Can they? Yes.
28:55
Yes. So there's plenty, obviously,
28:57
there's so many companies on the day they can chat to each other
29:00
and actually introduce themselves.
29:01
It's quite a good community event to actually, you know,
29:04
meet new people. But yeah, there's different
29:07
packages that we offer for corporate, for entries.
29:11
That includes, you know, you can have the boat logo on the boat
29:14
throughout the day. You can have advert in a
29:16
souvenir program and also the silver and gold donation entries
29:21
also offer donations to the charity.
29:24
So you know, as soon as you enter the hire package, you're
29:26
instantly helping the charity and.
29:29
That's, that's the thing we've got to keep focus on is that
29:31
this is a charity event and you know any, any country or any
29:35
contributions corporate can make will contribute towards the
29:38
charity that's. Why we didn't, you know, to
29:41
carry on to make sure that the charities get as much money as
29:44
possible, Yeah. And obviously members of the
29:46
public are there as well. So that could benefit your
29:48
corporate organization from that promotion and and awareness as
29:52
well, won't it? Yeah.
29:52
Definitely. I mean, yeah, if you business
29:54
the customer, you've got loads of awareness on the day.
29:57
You can display your flags and your gazebo and people can
30:00
actually find out who you are and what you do.
30:02
Fantastic. And what, what does that kind of
30:05
look like and do do do the corporates being their own
30:07
gazebos, have they provided what, what's the sort of set up?
30:10
And yeah. So our gold entry includes A
30:13
gazebo. However, if they enter a
30:15
standard or a silver, they can purchase that on top or they can
30:19
bring their own. You won't be positioned.
30:22
So you like gold and silver entries.
30:23
If they purchase a gazebo and then standards, they are put
30:27
closer to the finish line. So it's just priority.
30:29
Obviously if you book a gold, you'll get closer better
30:32
viewing. But now if, if they bring their
30:35
own, we've got a lovely spot right at the end of the rowing
30:38
lake where there's quite a lot of teams that bring their own
30:40
gazebos. And it actually, when you go all
30:42
the way to the end there, you can see the atmosphere.
30:44
And you know, the, the, the thing we don't normally see when
30:48
we're running it is, you know, how people are actually having
30:50
fun and just having a barbecue and a few drinks.
30:53
So yeah, it's nice to see everyone just relaxing on the
30:55
grass. Fantastic, and there is a pub
30:58
nearby as well, isn't it? Yes.
30:59
There is, yeah, there is the one to.
31:00
Go there as well So fantastic sounds like a superb event do
31:05
you do you kind of get to find out roughly how many members of
31:08
public attend for the events or does that is it not kind of
31:10
people that you people because it's kind of kind of an open
31:13
area to come to so you can't really keep track can you I.
31:15
Mean we usually we don't really take track of it because it's
31:18
very hard to know because it's a public space.
31:20
We can't click them in and out, so we can't really know how
31:23
many. But by looking at photos, it's
31:25
fair few thousand walking past throughout the day.
31:29
You know, we try to get some footage, you know, from the
31:32
whole Rd. like wide view. But yeah, it it gets busy,
31:36
especially on the stretch where the path is, you know, where the
31:39
gazebo's, you know, trying to walk through and.
31:42
That's the thing, isn't it, Because a lot of it is passing
31:44
trade, so to speak, people. Yeah, you might get some people
31:47
to come there from from start to finish, but a lot of people are
31:49
kind of drifting in and out. So there's a good flow of
31:51
people. Yeah, some.
31:52
People gone through there on bikes or running or, you know,
31:56
yeah. Yeah, some people, probably just
31:58
by chance. Yeah, just by.
31:59
Chance and ask what what yeah no, we have a few people before
32:03
the day actually ask, you know when we're setting up oh what's
32:06
going on here tomorrow so yeah we tell oh we'll come and see
32:09
you know so it's nice that people again dragon boat racing,
32:12
although a lot of people know about it we do want to spread
32:14
more awareness of the sport because still a lot of people
32:17
don't know what it is so of course.
32:19
Brilliant X and right, let's take another pause there for a
32:22
few minutes. We're back after this short
32:25
break, so do stay tuned. It's PCR FM.
32:29
You're listening to PCR sports. Welcome back to the final part
32:42
of the PCR Sports Show this week, myself and Nigel in the
32:46
studio in the company of Alicia Green from New Wave Events.
32:50
If you've missed any of the show, you've missed a cracker so
32:52
far, but you can listen back on our website after 7:00.
32:55
The show will be uploaded. Go to pcrfm.co.uk and choose the
32:59
Listen again option and it'll be available there until our next
33:02
show next week. Alicia, So great overview you've
33:08
given of the of the event itself and and your organization new
33:11
events, new wave, sorry new wave events and cracking job that
33:16
you're doing and maintaining the tradition of having the Dragon
33:18
Boat Festival in Peterborough now going into the 26th year of
33:22
it's occurrence, which is absolutely I haven't.
33:24
Stopped counting soon, yeah? Absolutely, absolutely.
33:26
So the event takes place on the 20th of June, right in the heart
33:31
of summer, and hopefully we're cracking weather as well.
33:34
And you have an event at Serpentine Green as a kind of a
33:38
pre event, pre festival promo event.
33:41
Tell us a little bit about that, how that's set up and what
33:44
people can expect on a day. Yeah.
33:45
So we always try to aim to be outside of boots, but might not
33:49
be. If not, we will be on the other
33:52
side. It's either outside boots or
33:53
other side outside. Yeah.
33:55
JDJJBJD Sports JB Yeah, so we, we bring a full size boat into
34:02
the shopping centre and we bring, you know, ourselves to
34:05
chat to you guys to explain what the event is about to allow
34:09
children to get into the boats and take some photos.
34:12
But yeah, show some videos and just make awareness for the
34:17
charity. Excellent and we as PCR FM proud
34:20
to be your partner again this year.
34:21
Second year running and we'll be along on that day taking photos,
34:26
videos and promoting it for you and everything we we thought you
34:29
would do. So do you can come and meet us
34:31
as well as Alicia and her team as well.
34:35
In terms of you as an organization, obviously takes a
34:39
little, quite a bit of effort and resource to, to put on an
34:43
event like this. So I guess you could do with a
34:45
little bit of help from from people at time from time to
34:47
time, yeah. So we're always looking for
34:50
staff members who are who love being outside and who are not
34:54
afraid of a challenge. Although once you get to know
34:56
the team and everyone you'll, I'm sure you'll fall in love
34:59
with it but not by it. But no, it's a great summer job
35:04
if you are just in between uni, finishing uni, you know, doing
35:08
part time jobs somewhere. Just message us and especially
35:12
if you're local, we are always looking for local staff who can
35:15
help us. So yeah, get in touch and I'm
35:18
sure we can find something for you on a.
35:20
On a freelance basis? Yeah, freelance.
35:21
Basis we can even, you know, employ them part time in the
35:25
summer if needed, but usually it's ad hoc, you know, as and
35:29
when we need you. And in March we've got a
35:33
training weekend specifically to teach people how to hail on the
35:36
boats. So if you fancy giving that a
35:38
go, if you're a sporty or not sporty sometimes, you know, I if
35:41
I can do it, anyone can do it. But yeah.
35:45
So give, give us an idea of the type of roles people could do on
35:48
a freelance basis or, and, and what sort of skills perhaps you
35:51
might be looking for. Yeah.
35:52
So again, most important for us is helming, which is steering
35:56
the boats. So if you can do that, that
35:58
would be most helpful. But we'd always look for people
36:01
that can, you know, be our starter or a finish judge or sit
36:05
in race control and make sure that all those times are
36:08
accurate and, you know, updated on time.
36:12
Yeah. But, Marshall, so there's other
36:13
people that give you health and safety briefings.
36:16
So they're the ones that explain on how to paddle, how to make
36:19
sure you stay safe on the water. Yeah.
36:22
Plenty of rolls going. So if you need anything so.
36:27
These these boats are your boats.
36:29
So it's slightly different from a raft race where you you may
36:33
get some boats that maybe not so seaworthy as others.
36:36
But do do you have occasions where you have accidents and
36:41
some of these boats? We do have capsizes, yes.
36:44
However, we don't like to talk about them.
36:47
No, but that's down to I guess. Health and safety.
36:50
Moist well. A health and safety, but the
36:52
cause of it, I guess it's down to the crew perhaps not doing
36:55
something right, yes. That's right.
36:57
If I was the crew not listening to our hell or moving slightly
37:02
too much to the other side of the boat and the boat just flips
37:05
all the drummer decides to go for a swim and tips over.
37:09
Obviously those boats are not that stable.
37:11
They're stable, but you know, if people are out of sync, it's
37:16
quite easy to capsize them. And I guess it's quite easy to
37:19
get carried away in the whole event as well if you.
37:21
If you want to win, yes, you know, you don't stop until you
37:25
finish, go towards that finish line.
37:27
So it is quite intense exercise and people sometimes don't pay
37:31
attention if they slightly moved over on that seat, the rowing.
37:35
Lake isn't that deep, is it? I think you can stand in it,
37:37
can't you? Yes.
37:38
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, there's always risk with
37:40
capsizes, so we always discourage it.
37:42
But it is quite a spectacular thing to watch.
37:44
I guess so. Yes, yeah.
37:48
So it's part of the prerequisite for entering that you need to be
37:50
able to swim or not really. You know, we do have vests on
37:54
and obviously you've got a lot of your teammates who can help
37:57
you. If you've got buoyancy vests on,
37:58
you can float. We do sometimes get questions
38:01
how deep is the water? We don't measure every single
38:04
lake we work out, but you know, we always make sure that you
38:07
have save buoyancy vests and we've got Helm who knows the
38:10
procedure on how to get you out safely.
38:12
Did you? Get any guidance or association
38:15
with Peter Rowing Club? Do they?
38:16
Kind of, yeah. So we hire the Rowing Club from
38:19
them and they have a bar on the day.
38:22
So again, if you go grab a beer from them, you are helping them
38:24
as well. So, but yeah, we don't really
38:29
associate in terms of rowing because it's quite a different
38:32
sport, but yeah. Excellent.
38:33
Sounds good, right? It's getting close to the end of
38:36
the show, but again, a reminder please, Alicia, when's the event
38:41
taking place? Yes.
38:42
So it's at Peterborough Rowing Lake on the Saturday 20th of
38:46
June. Yeah, see you there.
38:49
And. When can people start entering?
38:51
Yes. 8th of December, we aim to open the entries, so just look
38:55
at our socials. So if you go to Instagram, it's
38:58
New Wave Events under Score, and then if you go on Facebook, it's
39:03
Dragon Boat Peterborough Dragon Boat Festival.
39:05
So you'll find us there with more information.
39:08
Excellent and new wave hyphen. Events.co.uk is your website,
39:12
yes. That's the for the corporate
39:13
team building. If you want specific dragon boat
39:16
content, go to dragonboatevents.co.uk.
39:18
Fantastic. That's brilliant.
39:21
Get a move on because like Alicia said, I think you said
39:23
that by March it often starts to kind of fill up, certainly when
39:28
you've had the 48 team events, but now you increased it to 60,
39:31
you may extend a little bit further, but nonetheless it does
39:34
sell out. So do get involved and it's a
39:37
great corporate event and team building event.
39:39
So yeah. See you there.
39:40
Thank you so much, Lisa. Thank you very much been a
39:42
pleasure having you in the studio with us.
39:44
Thank you very much and all the best with the event again this
39:46
year and obviously we are partner with you so we'll.
39:49
See you again. We'll be.
39:50
We'll be heavily involved and just let us know how you're
39:52
getting on and we'll give you a shout out on the air and I'm no
39:55
doubt we'll perhaps have you back on the show before the
39:57
event again anyway. So perfect.
39:58
Thank you so much. Fantastic.
40:00
Nice. Thank you very much, Sir.
40:01
Thank you. Pleasure.
40:02
Another great show, yeah. Really good.
40:04
SO have a great weekend everyone.
40:06
Thanks for listening. Have a great week and we'll be
40:08
back Same time, same place next week.
40:10
It's the PCR from sports show. Have a good one, look after
40:14
yourself and bye for now.