Thousands of rubber ducks will sail down the River Teme this month - here's why

And if you are an organiser of the duck race there will be even more fun after the event on Bank Holiday Monday, May 27, when you have to pick up some 2,000 bright yellow plastic ducks from the River Teme.

This fun event is being arranged by Ludlow Rotary Club to raise funds for Ludlow Rotary Cares, the club’s community grants scheme.

There will be four ‘duck races’ from 11am on the day when the bathtub toys will be launched from Dinham Bridge to race down the river.

Adrian Carter of Ludlow Rotary explained: “Planning a duck race is no mean feat.

"The ducks have to be corralled into pens of 500 then decanted into boxes of 100. Each box of 100 ducks is then put into numbered bags, checked and double checked to make sure each ticket we sell is allocated to a duck.

"When all the ducks are sorted, they are stored in bags ready for the big day."

The plastic ducks will not be allowed to float away down the river.

Mr Carter added: "Even more challenging will be ensuring that all the ducks are collected and none escape at the end of each race.

"During this process we expect there to be a lot of laughing, counting and cleaning of ducks – and some of us may even get a little wet.”

Everyone who sponsors a duck for £2 will have the chance of winning £100 if theirs is the first across the winning line.

There will be plenty of opportunity to cheer on the ducks from the banks of the river on the day. The races will also be filmed to watch afterwards on the Ludlow Rotary Club website.

Ducks are available to sponsor online at the Ludlow Rotary Club's website, by using the QR code on the posters displayed around the town, or from the Rotary stall in the market place on Sunday, May 26.

Ludlow Rotary Cares’ is the name of Ludlow Rotary Club’s annual scheme aimed at supporting community life in and around Ludlow by offering modest grants to local charities and organisations. The maximum grant available is now £750.

Over the past ten years the Ludlow Rotary Club has been able to invest over £50,000 in over 100 local community projects through this scheme.