Shropshire rowing club completes virtual charity challenge for NHS

To cover the distance, a team of 30 past and present members of Harper Adams University's rowing club have been running, walking, swimming, cycling, horse riding, and of course rowing, across a period of eight weeks.

The team has just completed the challenge and even travelled a further 457 miles to arrive virtually at the university near Newport.

But they are now appealing for help to reach their fundraising goal.

So far, members have raised more than £600 but are hoping to hit the £1,000 mark.

Peter Reis, from the club, said: “The idea to originally do something started as an executive group decision.

"We hoped to help keep up mental and physical fitness for club members during the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.

"The idea of going around Great Britain came from Eloise Davies, our women’s captain 2020/21.

“We saw it as a great opportunity to also raise money for NHS Charities Together.

“Overall, we have done really well.

"We have also been having group catch-ups on Zoom to share a drink and keep up moral.

“Something that has been challenging is the daily seven kilometres.

"As a target, we all had to do 40 kilometres a week, which when running can be a stretch if you've got other work to do.

"It’s useful to go out for long cycles to rack-up the distance.

"Holly Culver (women’s VC) has totted-up an impressive 200 kilometres in just one week.

“The challenge has given us all something to do during the lockdown and motivation to get outside, which is what it’s all about. It’s also been a welcome respite from university work."

Speaking about why the team decided to raise money for NHS Charities Together, Eloise on the team’s donation page said: “We are all in awe of the dedication and hard work of our NHS members in these incredibly hard and uncertain times, and we as a club want to raise money to help them.”

To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/haurc