Charity Matters & Committee Members News -Diet & The Dragoneers In Donegal!

Dietmar (and stone faced friend)!

Long time CCFPA committee member, popular Sky Blues sixties legend Dietmar Bruck has sent us some photos from Donegal in the latest jaunt for the Manchester Dragoneers, a charity which this Association has regularly sent support! Since moving to Manchester with his better half Ann, Dietmar has been a strong backer of his partner’s Charity which provides both emotional and practical support to those facing a Breast Cancer (BC) diagnosis (and to their friends and family). The 80 year old superfit Dietmar, who played 216 times for the Sky Blues between 1961-70 is pictured holding up the statue in the ‘team photo’ (above and right) riverside in the Irish town during a Charity Gala Event for the sport! 

CCFPA sends our best wishes to the Dragoneers and the expectation that they and Diet will ‘keep paddling’ for many years to come! They certainly look happy and full of life in the latest photos!

For several years now the ‘Dragoneers’ have been encouraging and taking part in competitions between rival Dragon Boat teams around the UK and abroad as a means of keeping fit, helping recovery from the condition and generating income for the charity. Dietmar has been an active participant both on and off the water and we have sent regular postings on this site about what they have been up to, last time out in a charity competition last May on the canals of Venice (qv)!

We can also fly!

Ann, a past sufferer of the disease, set up the Manchester Dragoneers in 2012. Paddling, as a regular exercise, is proven to help BC patients and survivors as the upper body movement is good for the secondary condition lymphodema. Though the sport orginated in China competitions are held all over the world. The large boats boast a big team of twenty rowers whose oars are kept in rhythm by a drummer at the front and the large rudder enables steerage by the person at the helm.

All aboard

If you would like to find out more and perhaps join or make your own donation to the Manchester Dragoneers you can access their new website https://www.manchesterdragoneers.com/ or Facebook page (here).