I thank my wife and children, my trainer Dan for his commitment to my fitness, who we wouldn’t have known if it hadn’t been for Heather our wonderful nanny who allowed my wife to be at the finish line in the safe knowledge our children were safe. Also from the endless emails from well wishes … Continued
Day 1 Nothing can prepare you for the mix of excitement and fear stood at the start line. There are serious athletes here who intend to run the entire event and us mortals who will be satisfied simply to finish Stage 1 showed us exactly how hard this is going to be, and Matt and … Continued
Thu, 4 May 2017 at 09:04 All but eight competitors have reached camp but all are expected before the cutoff time of 10 am. The most recent to arrive were Galvin Pilcher of the United Kingdom and Mackenzie Deal of the United States. Yesterday saw 15 competitors withdraw due to the heat. All the … Continued
Gavin is 49 years old and has been a keen sports fan for most of his life. He previously played rugby (finishing prematurely due to serious injury) and enjoys golf as a fair-weather player only and skiing whenever possible. Due to another serious injury in 2006, incurred playing in a friendly football match, resulting in multiple surgeries Gavin undertook to get fit and raise money for a good cause and in 2007 came together with 3 industry colleagues determined to make a difference to a small children’s charity based in South London. The result was over £400K raised and a series of desert ultra-marathons committed to completing. Despite the group being separated through changing priorities and the passing of time Gavin believes he has one last race and wants to do so by completing the Sahara (Namibia) 2017 desert multistage race in May this year.
This time the cause is just as good as previous events and Gavin hopes to raise a large sum of money for London based GRAEAE Theatre Company. Graeae is a force for change in world-class theatre, boldly placing D/deaf and disabled actors Centre stage and challenging preconceptions regarding disability.
Gavin’s youngest brother was born with hearing impairment so this cause resonates with him personally and by undertaking an extreme event such as a desert ultra-marathon he hopes to raise awareness of the charity and its good work but also inspire others to ‘dig deep’ and support him.
Please join us in wishing him every success with this challenge in the hope that he completes it and returns safely.
Matt is 37 years old and has been involved in raising money for various charities across the world since school age. Working in both the private and public sectors he has had the opportunity to support local and international causes. The biggest sum raised was in 2004 when Matt set up a charity cycle event at Esporta Health Club Northampton for the Thailand Tsunami appeal. Three and a half thousand pounds were raised in thirty-six hours to support the relief effort there.
Matt has played Rugby Union from the age of thirteen until thirty-five when he sadly split three discs in his back dealing with an incident as a Police Officer. Unable to play rugby anymore, he is an avid fan of the Northampton Saints and attends matches whenever he can. His exercise time also includes accompanying his two daughters Hope and Annabelle with their interests of horse riding and bike riding.
Matt wants to complete the Sahara (Namibia) 2017 desert multistage race in May this year. This is a totally new endurance challenge whereby he will push himself to new limits.
Matt hopes to raise money for a paediatric Cancer charity called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). (The Brain Tumour Charity). This charity has been selected for an enormously heart felt reason. A former colleague serving in Northants Police and his family fought against this cruel Cancer when their young son Alfie was diagnosed. DIPG has a zero percent survival rate and is massively underfunded. Alfie was only five when diagnosed and lived to be six.
Northants Police have organized numerous charity events including Boxing and dinners since Alfie’s death. Matt would like to do something personal to support Alfie Bears Journey so please support him with this challenge.
Graeae presents a unique approach which I’m proud to raise funds for. Raising money via the desert race will allow Encore to donate to an organisation that boldly places D/deaf and disabled artists centre-stage in a diversity of new and existing plays.
Graeae pioneers a radical dramatic language by exploring the “aesthetics of access”, creatively embedding a range of tools such as audio description and sign language from the very beginning of the artistic process. It explores new territory and theatrical genres – from contemporary classics to musicals, to outdoor circuit… with sway poles and giant puppets!
Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma also known as ‘DIPG’ is the second most common type of primary, high grade brain tumour in children. Primary brain tumours are those which originate in the brain rather than having spread there from another part of the body.
We are the leading funder of brain tumour research in the UK, spending over £18.3 million to date on pioneering projects that will help adults and children with brain tumours.
We spend 80p in every £1 donated on our charitable aims, so the more we raise, the more we will invest in research. We fund research through a competitive, fair and transparent process of best practice called peer review to ensure we only select the very best research that will have a real impact on those affected by brain tumours.
We are both very grateful for all our sponsors, whose donations will make it possible for our chosen charities to continue their good work. If you are interested in sponsoring us, please get it touch using the contact form at the bottom of the page.
