Telethon 2024: Roy Hill, Hancock, Atlas to participate in rowing challenge Corporate Cup Regatta

Roy Hill rowers will have a powerful reminder of who they are rowing for when they take on this year’s Corporate Cup Regatta.

Three crews made up of staff from Hancock Prospecting-owned businesses will be proudly wearing Fat Cat on the sleeves of their custom Telethon-themed rowing rashies.

And superstar Fat Cat himself will make a special appearance to cheer on the Hancock teams from the sidelines.

The Roy Hill, Atlas and HanRoy teams have been training hard in preparation for the regatta for Telethon.

Each team has been hitting the water before dawn several times a week in the lead up to Saturday morning’s cup in Mt Pleasant.

They even brought in experienced rowing coaches to fine-tune their technique to ensure a strong row to victory.

Despite the early mornings and gruelling training regime, the teams have been motivated not only by the friendly competition but the opportunity to support kids from across WA through Telethon.

Roy Hill’s Fraser Donaldson is participating in the regatta for the second year in a row.

This year, he has stepped up to be the captain leading the charge in today’s tournament.

“It’s been really great to see everyone from different parts of Hancock, Roy Hill and Atlas come together to give our best and have some fun along the way,” he said.

“We’re proud to be representing Hancock’s majority owned Roy Hill, awarded for the third time, Australia’s best mining company.”

A passionate supporter of Telethon, Roy Hill has been a Million Dollar Partner of Telethon since 2021.

Last year the company donated a generous $1 million to the cause, plus a further $2 million from executive chairman Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.

Mrs Rinehart is also the patron of Rowing Australia, which saw her donate a world-class Empacher Racing-Eight to the Swan River Rowing Club’s female youth program in May.

Hancock Operations chief executive Gerhard Veldsman said a large number of staff donate and get behind Telethon every year.

“Our teams are really excited to take part in this year’s Corporate Rowing Regatta and they’ll be wearing our Telethon branded rash vests,” he said.

“Inspired by the leadership of our Executive Chairman Mrs Gina Rinehart, our employees are keen to make a contribution and each month we have a large number of our staff donate from their pre-tax salaries towards our annual Telethon donation.”

The first of the races will kick off at 9am at the Swan River Rowing Club in Mt Pleasant.

Fat Cat will be there to spread the excitement in the lead up to the Telethon weekend, which kicks off in just one week.

The Corporate Regatta will be broadcast live, free and on demand on Streamer from 9am Saturday.