Cricketers from Staffordshire University will be taking on the mammoth task of covering 874 miles – the equivalent of travelling from Lands End to John O’Groats – in a single week, all in aid of raising money for mental health charity CALM.
From June 1 to June 8, the team of nine will averagely need to run, walk or bike half a marathon every day – each.
The club is walking in the footsteps of Opening Up Cricket, an organisation that promotes self wellbeing and suicide prevention within the sport, by doing a charity challenge to which all money raised will go to Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM).
One of the team’s members, Liam Ramsbottom, told Sport in Staffs how he was feeling ahead of the fundraiser.
“I’m pretty nervous but excited, I’ve never done a challenge like this before so it’s something completely new,” he stated.
“So far we have had some great support for this and that’s a great motivator.”
He explained how the idea first came about and why the group selected to fundraise for a mental health charity.
“As a club, we took part in the Smash The Tash campaign earlier in the year, and we raised £350,” the 23-year-old said.
“This was through donations just from club members and we wanted to do something more but weren’t sure what to do. Then last year’s club president suggested we do a combined fundraising event – he suggested the Lands End to John O’Groats route.
“It was suggested that we do something for students mental health as this is something we as students can really relate to in these times. From this we came across Opening Up Cricket and CALM. We decided on all of this in a 10-minute group call and it all went from there.
“Mental health affects people all across the UK and we wanted to represent that with this route. Mental health in these times is crucial and with a lot of pressure on students with lack of resources and social interaction, this is something that everyone at the club relates to and it seemed like a very appropriate cause for us to do it for.”
Liam, who is studying Business Management Accelerated at Staffordshire University, said that the team has a target total in mind.
“Currently it’s £1,000 but we would like to raise as much as we can and would like to exceed this,” he said.
The fundraiser is gathering pace fast, with £390 already donated towards the cause – 11 days before the challenge gets underway.
To donate to this fantastic initiative too, click here.
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