A team of volunteers and staff from St Helier Hospital have raised £12,000 for a kidney charity after taking part in a Chinese dragon boat race.

Two teams aptly named the ‘Sweaty Kidney Scientists’ and the ‘Red Hot Kidney Beans’ took part in the event on the River Thames recently in support of the South West Thames Kidney Fund which supports research into kidney disease.

Dr Mark Dockrell, senior scientist in the renal unit at St Helier said: "It was a fantastic day, and we are absolutely over the moon to have raised such a wonderful amount of money, both in sponsorship, and from our amazingly successful tombola stand that we held on the day.

"It was a really enjoyable event, and despite the fact that our two teams have never been in a boat together, we rowed well, had fun, didn’t capsize and managed not to finish last."
He added: "Kidney disease is very difficult to live with, it can be fatal, and unfortunately, it's becoming increasingly common. 

"It's therefore, very important that we keep the treatments advancing and improving all the time, and the only way to do that is through research."

For more information visit kidneyfund.org.uk