TO MARK his 50th birthday, a Wokingham man has raised £9,000 for charity.
Benny Fennell rowed 100km (62 miles) at the end of July, in 24 hours.
Starting on Friday, July 30, at noon, Benny rowed for 20 minutes every hour — stopping twice for a 30-minute nap.
He raised the money for Home-Start Wokingham District, a family support charity that aims to give disadvantaged children a better start in life.
Amy, Benny’s wife and fundraising manager at the Wokingham charity, says her husband did brilliantly on the day.
“He was overwhelmed by the support with friends and family joining him via Zoom or in-person either rowing, cycling or running with him or just cheering him on,” she says.
“On the final leg there were 10 people with him and 25 people on Zoom including friends in Australia who were DJing, which created a fantastic atmosphere.”
Benny planned to raise £5,000, inspired by his 50th year but beat the target.
The £9,000 will be used to take 30 families on a summer outing, and support others with the charity’s home visiting service, Amy explains.
“It really was an amazing and inspiring achievement, and Ben was quite emotional at the end,” she adds.
This year also marks the charity’s 25th anniversary.
“We really want to encourage anyone that wants to set a personal challenge to fundraise for us,” Amy says.
All keen walkers are invited to join the Home-Start Hikers on Saturday, September 11, for a 25km (mile) Thames Bridges Trek.
The charity is hoping to gather 25 team members for the event.
For more information, or to donate to Benny’s fundraiser, visit: localgiving.org/fundraising/24HourRowingChallenge
To sign up to the Home-Start Hikers, email: [email protected]
