Video: See the ducks
floating down the River Stour.

by Adam Williams

A tide of yellow rubber
floated its way down the River Stour on Saturday morning for the
annual Canterbury Rotary Club Duck Race.

£4,750 was raised for good causes
from the event and several real ducks, boat trips and passing
tourists were caught by surprise as more than 3,000 rubber ducks
were cheered on by both old and young from the river bank. A record
number of entries were sold before the event, each costing £1,
while 77 red corporate ducks, costing £25 each, also joined in.
Martin Forrests’ entry was the first to cross the line in front of
Tower House in the corporate race, claiming their prize of a case
of champagne.

Incoming Rotary Club president
Richard Kemball-Cook was delighted with the race result.

He said: "A lot of the money raised
today will go towards our ongoing support of fighting the spread of
Polio in third world countries.

"I have visited India in the last
year to see the work done by the project Polio Plus, which aims to
educate women and families in the use of both clean water and
effective immunisation."

The event was sponsored by
Crimefighter Alarms Ltd, whose managing director Geoff Goodban is
also a Rotarian.

He said: "I always make sure I can
sponsor community events like this in Canterbury.

"We as a company donate thousands
of pounds to charities every year. I’m local, I have a passion for
the area and believe in doing what I can for charity and today is a
great opportunity to do that."

See this week's Kentish
Gazette for more pictures.