London Otters RC raise more than £1000 at annual Rainbow Races event
Rowers from the LGBTQ+ community and allies took part in 500m sprint side-by-side races in eights and quads at the Royal Albert Dock in East London
On Saturday, 18 October, the London Otters RC hosted the annual Rainbow Races at the Royal Albert Dock.
This year, Rainbow Races raised £1,192.52 for Not a Phase, an incredible achievement that broke the £1k mark, and all participants and donors should be proud!
Congratulations to our winning crews, who walked away with some lovely rainbow laces from Stonewall. These were presented by our local MP for West Ham and Beckton, James Asser, and Newham Council Chair, Dr. Rohit Dasgupta. It was wonderful to have our community leaders show up to our event and stand in solidarity against homophobia and transphobia in sport. The crews, who were put together just for the day, wore coloured t-shirts to make the design of the Pride and Trans Pride flags in their boats.
A big thank you also to the Dockside Café, who donated part of their profits on the day to support the fundraising effort. Thanks as well to Royal Docks Watersports for allowing us to host the event. We are very grateful for the local support that contributed to the event’s success.
London Otters RC was founded in 2014 with just a handful of people as a way to help LGBTQ+ people get into the sport and enjoy it in a welcoming and inclusive environment, and has grown into one of the UK’s largest rowing clubs with over 200 active members.
London Otters RC is the UK’s only LGBTQ+ inclusive rowing club, one of a handful around the world including the Melbourne Argonauts, Zurich Penguins and (Washington) DC Strokes. It is part of the thriving community of inclusive sports clubs in London and the wider UK, and affiliated with Out for Sport, which supports LGBTQ+ sport in London. LGBTQ+ inclusive sports clubs help people participate in sport by providing an inclusive and welcoming environment, which is especially important for LGBTQ+ people who are often put off sports at a young age, or who face barriers to being their authentic selves in sport.
Since 2017 the club has held an annual ‘Rainbow Races’ event, inspired by Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign, to support LGBTQ+ inclusion in rowing and to raise money for charitable causes. This year the chosen charity was Not A Phase, supporting the lives of trans+ adults across the UK.
Across six heats and two finals, the day saw some exciting races and close finishes. The crews were assembled just for the day out of rowers from different clubs, but once in the boats, competitive spirits took over and participants were there to win.
The event was supported by the Royal Docks Watersports Centre, who hosted Rainbow Races at the Royal Albert Dock in East London, the club’s base since its founding. Local café the Dockside got in on the action, donating 25% of their revenue from the day to Not A Phase.
