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A children’s author is taking on a high-altitude fundraising challenge 2,200 metres up a French mountain to raise lifechanging funds for Sport Relief this summer.
Robin Bennett, 53, from Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, will be staging a penalty shootout during a visit to the French Pyrenees, a mountain range in southwest France, when the weather allows in the week of July 25. The children’s author, best known for his Stupendous Sports and Monster Max book series, will be joined by his three children, Jude, 17, Victor, 16, and daughter Hortense, aged 13, as he carries out the unique challenge.
The challenge will see the Bennett family climb an arduous 11 miles up the 2,359m high Montaigu mountain before taking on the penalty shootout competition on a plateau when they reach approx. 2,200 metres. To make the challenge even harder, they will need to carry the blow-up goal post set and football with them on their backs when tackling the demanding 11-mile climb and making their way back down the steep route.
Robin is one of hundreds of people up and down the UK, and around the Commonwealth, that are set to take part in Move22 by moving 22 miles over the 12 days of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games between 28 July and 8 August, to raise money for Sport Relief.
Participants are being encouraged to walk, run or cycle to cover the 22-mile distance, or get creative to Move 22 in their own way. This could be completing 22 burpees every hour for 22 hours, for example, or doing 22 yoga cycles in a day.
Robin said: “The Move 22 challenge was perfect as I was looking for something different to do that could be used to raise awareness of sport and how that can help in the community - especially for kids. Staging a penalty shootout at 2,200m up Montaigu in the Pyrenees had a nice ring and seemed like a laugh. I’ve also figured out a route that’s 11 miles up and 11 miles down, so we complete the Move 22 challenge at the same time.”
Robin adds: “Sport is a great unifier. It gets everyone involved and brings people together in all the best ways. When I was younger, I always used to do sporting challenges for charity, like massive bike rides, Thames swimming challenges, or various activities with the local rugby and football clubs. I realised I hadn’t done anything like that for ages. Sport is a passion of mine, so if I can combine that with helping raise money for charity then all the better.”
Money raised by the Bennett family for Sport Relief will help tackle important issues, including tackling inequality, improving mental health and helping young people to survive and thrive.
Samir Patel, Chief Executive of Comic Relief, says: “All across the country people of every age are creating brilliant ways to raise money by doing something 22 times. From walking 22 miles to doing 22 cart wheels the challenge is to complete your goal during the 12 days of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“Your donations will make such a difference and help tackle inequality, improve mental health and help young people to survive and thrive. I want to thank everyone helping us fundraise during this incredible summer of sport.”
Sport Relief is an official charity partner of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, alongside United By 2022 and the Commonwealth Sport Foundation. Together, the organisations are working to raise money to take on important issues, including tackling inequality, improving mental health and helping young people to survive and thrive.
To find out how you can get involved in Sport Relief this summer, visit: comicrelief.com/sportrelief(opens in new window)
ENDS
ASSETS AVAILABLE
Selection of pictures of Robin and his children
Interview time with Robin
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
Senior Media Officer Antonia Paget
A.paget@comicrelief.com(opens in new window)
07981 923879
media@comicrelief.com(opens in new window)
Out of hours 07984 510 473
www.comicrelief.com/media-centre(opens in new window)
Out of hours enquiries: 07984 510 473
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Sport Relief
Sport Relief is a year-round fundraising campaign run by the charity, Comic Relief. Sport Relief harnesses the power of sport and entertainment to bring people together across the UK, to get active, have fun and raise life-changing funds. Since launching in 2002, Sport Relief has raised £419 million so far, thanks to the generous British public, and supported millions of lives in the UK and around the world.
This year, Sport Relief is teaming up with United By 2022 and the Commonwealth Sport Foundation to celebrate an incredible summer of sport as the official charity partners of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Together we hope to inspire the nation through a shared love of sport, to use this momentous sporting event as an opportunity to raise money to change lives for the better. Sport Relief aims to raise money to take on important issues, including tackling inequality, improving mental health and helping young people to survive and thrive in Birmingham, across the UK, around the Commonwealth and beyond.
Sport Relief is an initiative of Comic Relief, operating name of Charity Projects, registered charity in England & Wales (326568) and Scotland (SC039730).
For more information about Sport Relief, please visit https://www.comicrelief.com/sportrelief
Instagram: @ComicRelief |Twitter: @ComicRelief | Facebook: @ComicRelief | Tik Tok: @ComicRelief
About Comic Relief
Comic Relief raises money to support people living incredibly tough lives in the UK and around the world. Through humour and stories of hope, we have shown that people can make a massive difference.
Comic Relief believes that those who are closest to the issues have the best solutions, and so works with organisations and people with direct experience of these challenges. We fund hundreds of amazing organisations who support the most vulnerable people and communities in society. This includes vulnerable children and young people, people who are homeless or who have been forced to flee their homes, women and families at risk of domestic abuse and those struggling with mental health problems.
For information about Comic Relief and the work it carries out, please visit www.comicrelief.com(opens in new window)
Comic Relief, which is the operating name of Charity Projects, is a registered charity 326568 (England/Wales); SC039730 (Scotland).
