I am training to row in June for a 100 miles across Scotland with 9 friends

We’re the oldest group to crew the world-renowned “Roxy”, Rannoch’s ocean going RX80 flagship boat. The Oarsome Oldies will navigate more than 100 miles across Scotland, from the North Sea to the Atlantic, through the Caledonian Canal, River Ness and the famous Lochs Dochfour, Ness, Lochy and Linnie.

This five day trip is an enormous physical challenge but the Oarsome Oldies refuse to go gently into the night! I began training 5 months ago and have many miles of rowing ahead of me in order to be ready for this challenge - I am very committed to being as fit as I can and as strong as possible.

I will be wild camping for the week, hopefully the weather will be kind to us as swimming in the Lochs will be refreshing but bearable if the sun shines.

The Rowers are: Andrew Gates, Claire da Costa, Glen Senk, Keith Johnson, Laura Gates, Michael Parker, Nick Adams, Phyllada Breedon, Sarah Temple-Pedersen and Sebastian Chambers.

The Charities we are supporting are:

1. Firefly International: Firefly was founded by Maria and Seb Chambers, to support children affected by the ravages of war. Firefly isn’t political, their only “religion” is children, with the goal of giving them a sense of normalcy in what is often a desolate situation. The organisation is extremely efficient, they touch the lives of thousands of children with a very small annual operating budget.

2. The Florence Nightingale Aid in Sickness Trust: This trust provides life enhancing grants to help people of all ages who are ill, convalescing or disabled. Donations are used to provide medical and household aids to alleviate sickness and they make a huge difference to these peoples' ability to manage at home and live as independently as possible.The aids supplied are extensive, ranging from wheelchairs, washing machines, refrigerators for essential drug storage to riser recliner chairs. The need has never been greater than now.

3. Friends of St. Margaret’s Church: The Friends of St. Margaret’s support the preservation, repair and maintenance of the fabric and furnishing of Corsley’s St. Margaret’s Church. Our goal is for the whole of the village to enjoy the church by making it more inclusive and accessible for a wide range of events. Our church is the true centre of the community and is in need of our assistance since parish churches do not receive financial support for repairs from the Church of England or the Government.

4. I Can and I Am: I Can & I Am’s wellbeing double decker bus has been visiting schools since May 2021 and has welcomed over 15,000 visitors on board from more than 150 different schools, universities, charities and places of work. Cooking and wellbeing workshops on board the bus have lead to 80% of visitors to the bus saying their self-belief has improved. The charity offers all its work within state schools (95% of school visits) free of charge.To enable our charity to increase its reach we are raising money to run a second double decker bus.

If I manage to raise more than my target of £3,000 for my chosen charity of ‘I Can and I Am’ I will divide the remainder with the other 3 charities.