Wimborne in Bloom Duck Race 2024

The 24th Wimborne in Bloom August Bank Holiday Weekend Duck Race has raised £1,800 towards ‘In Bloom’ funds in particular towards the planting up of the planters around Town for the Autumn.

The Mayor of Wimborne Minster, Cllr Jeff Hart accompanied by the Mayoress Mrs Barbara Hart and the Town Crier Chris Brown together with members of the Wimborne in Bloom Committee launched the Ducks into the River Allen by the Riverside Mews Café Bridge on the afternoon of Saturday 24th August. The ‘ducks’ made a quick swim down river with the first duck crossing the finishing line behind the Rising Sun Public House in East Street in around fifteen minutes.

Once again to meet the demand for tickets some of the ducks were ‘co-owned’ as it would have been impractical to increase beyond a thousand the number of ducks launched into the river. It meant that the prize money could be doubled as both owners would be eligible for the full value of all prizes. In the event five of the winning ducks were ‘co-owned’ and the full list of results is as follows:

1st Duck to cross the line was No: 763 owned by Jo Halton who won £50. The 2nd Duck No: 29 was co-owned by Anne Norman and Rosy Young who both won £25. 3rd Duck No: 961 was owned by Vicky Slade who received £10, the 4th Duck No: 628 was co-owned by Alison Bartlett and Arthur Furlonge who both won £5. 5th Duck No: 128 also with a prize of £5 was co-owned by Shelley Sims and Ruth James and the 6th Duck No: 209 was also co-owned by Clare Fentiman and Jean Oddy the winnings were £5. The last Duck home No: 652 was co-owned Becky Lee and Jane Alcock who both received a bottle of wine. Several of the winners donated their prize money back to Wimborne in Bloom for which we are truly grateful.

All ducks had been pre-sold at £1 a time thanks to both the Co-Op and Waitrose Supermarkets allowing members of Wimborne in Bloom to sell tickets outside their stores.

Richard Nunn, Chairman of Wimborne in Bloom speaking after the Race "thanked everyone who helped with the selling of tickets and all those who purchased ‘Ducks’ in support of Wimborne in Bloom. It was great to see all those smiling faces as people followed the race down the river trying to spot their 'duck'. In addition to thanking both the Co-Op and Waitrose he also expressed thanks to the Slocock Trust for the use of the Bridge from which to launch the ducks and the Rising Sun for all their help with the use of their garden area after the race and indeed for the ‘ducks’ they sold beforehand and also Puddle Ducks Dorset who sponsored the prizes which were given out in the presence of a six foot duck!"