Students set for monumental rowing effort for Help for Heroes

A group of students are gearing up to make a monumental fundraising effort when they start a 48-hour rowing challenge that has been set up in order to raise money for Help for Heroes. 

Nearly 75 members of the rowing club at Plymouth University have signed up to take part in the challenge, which kicks off at 8am on November 30th and will conclude on the morning of December 2nd. 

The students will take it in shifts of 15 minutes each on a rowing machine to complete the challenge, and they are hoping that the challenge's conclusion will see them raising a substantial sum for Road to Recovery, and offshoot of Help for Heroes, which is supported by British Rowing. 

Alex Bingle, social and sponsorship secretary for the club, told the Plymouth Herald: "The charity promotes the recovery of servicemen and women who have lost limbs through conflict. 

"They do great work in the rehabilitation process and it's a charity close to us because of the rowing."

He also added that last year the club managed to raise around £500 for the charity, and it hopes to beat this total this year.

Elsewhere, a youngster in Cumnock in Scotland has taken on the responsibility of raising money for Help for Heroes all by himself. Young Kyle Richmond has been fascinated by all things military for as long as his mum and dad can remember, and now he wants to support British troops with his charity venture.

The nine-year old has created his own range of handmade Christmas cards that he hopes to sell at a range of different outlets, and he wants to raise money for Help for Heroes. 

Kyle told the Cumnock Chronicle: “A lot of charities help out with different kinds of diseases. Help for Heroes isn’t just for one thing, it’s for stress, wounds, training therapists. 

“It makes my heart broken when I think of a soldier who has fought for his country and they don’t get to spend time with their family at Christmas.”