In Loving Memory of my nephew Billy Giles, who sadly passed away on the 25th January 2021 at the age of 26. I am fundraising for Place2Be, a charity offering mental health support in schools and free mental health training for school staff.

I always had an incredibly close relationship with Billy, for the first few years of his life, it was always Billy, Marnie (his mum), Mandy, and I. We were inseparable. I knew I had to really push myself to raise money for a good cause in his honour. 

The Challenge:
I have decided to do my version of a triathlon, in order to make the challenge truly push me to my limits. Although a 100mile Bike Ride, a 10,000ft Sky Dive and a 50-lap Swim may seem like a challenge to the large majority of us. It is particularly difficult for me. 

I am a 54-year-old man with a sub-par fitness level who cannot swim, and I don't mean I am simply not a good swimmer. I mean if you put me in a pool where I couldn't stand I would drown as I can't even tread water. 

Therefore the swim is the biggest challenge for me. I signed up for swimming lessons and will learn from scratch how to swim for this challenge. I will of course also have to massively build up my strength and stamina to complete the 100mile cycle around the very hilly Dartmoor, and pluck up the courage to jump out of a plane at 10,000ft.

Why Place2Be:

When my nephew Billy was 9 he started having trouble breathing often in class and they thought he had asthma, he went to the hospital and they gave him X-rays but did not see a cause. It turns out Billy was having panic attacks and just didn't understand what they were. 

If there was more understanding and support about mental health problems within his school, they would have recognised he was having panic attacks and he wouldn't have suffered in silence.

• 1 in 6 children and young people have a diagnosable mental health problem, and many continue to have these problems into adulthood.
• 50% of those with lifetime mental health problems first experience symptoms by the age of 14. 

I will be regularly updating this page with my training progress and I massively appreciate any donations and shares of this page.