Team Anna Victorious

As the end of our second lockdown in England is in sight and we anticipate what the tier system will mean for us all, we are having to adjust our fundraising plans and training to make sure that we are keeping everyone safe. This lockdown has been equally challenging as the first, and perhaps the isolating factors feel even more obvious. The network that we have through the row has been a significant support throughout this challenging time. The crew speaks most days and there is barely an hour that goes by that we don’t exchange WhatsApp messages - whether that be on nutrition, training or just winding each other up. The network and sense of community are critical to staying well and positive. So reach out if you are starting to feel a little flat or isolated; reach out to colleagues, family and friends for both their and your own benefit.

It has been an absolute pleasure to start our work with our gold sponsor, City Asset Management. While it would have been preferable for all concerned to meet up in person, a video call was the next best option. It was great to meet all their team. We always look forward to talking about what led us to this challenge and our desire to empower and inspire others to follow their ambitions and dreams. The team asked some insightful questions, but it was only a matter of time before the old favourite of “where’s the toilet?” came up. It never gets old seeing the face people pull when we explain the intricacies of the facilities on board! This was the first of our monthly meetings where we will discuss building resilient teams, managing the wellbeing of the team and nutrition among other things. We really believe that sponsorship is not a transaction to buy space on our hull but a partnership where we can add value to companies.

City Asset Management is clearly a forward-thinking company that cares about their team and we are thrilled to support them with this as they have supported us. We still have some sponsorship opportunities, so if you would like to speak to us about how we can help your teams through what is an unprecedented time, please get in touch.

Emma is now sitting warm and protected in her barn for the winter, which gives us time to order all the equipment that we need to have ready to go in the spring. We never thought that we would need to give this much consideration to seat padding until now. We are making some tweaks to our autohelm and we have some collars that we put around our oars that will allow us to alter the oar length depending on the weather conditions. Every time we knock an item off our to-do list, two more things are added at the bottom.

The whole team at Anna Victorious wishes you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas and thank you one again to all our amazing sponsors and supporters.

If you are struggling for ideas of what to buy loved ones, perhaps a donation in their name to our Just Giving page will help a family through cancer throughout the festive time. All the money we raise goes straight to the charity.

Thanks again for all your support, Ed.