PICKERING’S Rotarians have had their imagination fired with a plan to take a rowing boat to Venice.

Their “pirate ship” will take part in the Vogalonga, an annual regatta which last year saw over 1,800 boats take part.

Rotarian Hugh Morgan said that in the run-up to the 2016 race, the club was aiming to raise £10,000 for Marie Cure Cancer Care.

“We decided to start to raise money as soon as possible,” he added.

“We needed to find a suitable boat, and decided to transform it into a pirate ship and, with Rotarians dressed as pirates, to raise money before we went to Venice.”

Hugh said: “We have turned it into a ship that Captain Pugwash would have been proud to sail in – and what did we call it? The Jolly Roger? No, Sweet Charity.”

The Vogalonga is a 30km rowing race through the city of Venice and the lagoon which was born as a protest by those Venetians who wished to show the discomfort caused by motor boats.

Hugh said as well as taking part in the event, the Rotarians had chosen to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care because it was one of the leading charity providing care to people with any terminal illness in their own homes, or in one of its nine hospices.

The charity is also a leader in research into the best ways of caring for people with a terminal illness and all Marie Curie services are completely free of charge.

“Watch out for Sweet Charity on the first day of the Tour de Yorkshire as she will be safely moored at the end of the sprint finish in Pickering,” he added.

“There will be a bloodthirsty gang of pirates in attendance, so bring your camera and have your photograph taken with the crew.

“However, hold tight to your pieces of silver as the pirates can be very persuasive when it comes to filling treasure chests for charity.”

In addition to the Tour de Yorkshire, Sweet Charity will be at many of the local agricultural shows and many other high profile events in the Ryedale area throughout the coming months.

As part of Sweet Charity’s ‘launch’ the boat was also in Pickering Market Place on Saturday.

“We had a fantastic day and had a huge amount laughs with the locals and visitors alike, with one person actually wanting us to take Sweet Charity to an event they are organising later in the year,” Hugh said.

“The little kids enjoyed it and the big kids got involved too, so while having a great time we also managed to raise £678.19 towards our target.”

Mr Morgan said Barclays Bank were one of their main sponsors, and would be involved at many of the venues Sweet Charity visits.

For more information on the Pickering pirate ship, go to www.pickering-rotary.org.uk/ or on twitter @No1Rotary