A GRANDFATHER is set to do a three-day charity kayak in memory of his baby grandson.
Micheal Allcock, from Cofton Hackett, will be taking on the challenge at Urban Fitness Bournville College in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
The event, taking place from Monday (March 30) to Wednesday (April 1), will be held as a warm-up challenge to one in July 2016 where he will be attempting to cross the Irish Sea from Fishguard to Roslair and back again.
He will cover about 104 nautical miles and should take around 48 hours to do it with calm water or around 96 hours in rougher weather. It will be the first time anyone has attempted such a task.
During the training session at the gym Micheal will be using a kayaking simulator to cover the estimated distance of the Irish Crossing.
The 42-year-old is the CEO of Kayak for Kids which was set up in April 2014 in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald Housing Charity, West Midlands Air Ambulance and Help for Heroes.
Micheal will be doing three further similar sessions at the Urban fitness in aid of the other three charities he supports, between now and next year.
He will also be doing a charity event where he will kayak the length of Loch Ness five times, back to back.
Kayak for Kids has five members – Micheal, Jason Scattergood, Sharon Taylor, Hannah Isherwood and Cat Woodhouse, who have all set themselves a fund-raising target of £500,000 over the next five years.
The team will all be doing their part to help Micheal finish his challenges.
Micheal was inspired to do the fund-raising events when he lost his grandson who passed away at just three months old in July 2014. His grandson was born with an underdeveloped heart and had to have his first operation when he was just three-days-old.
Micheal said: “I promised I would do this in his memory.
“I will be honest, I am a little nervous – I have a lot of people putting a lot of faith in me.
“It started off as a promise to a little boy now it is a case of stepping up to the plate.
“I could not do this without my team of friends and family – I want to give them all a big thank-you.
“They are my support network, I come up with the dumb ideas and they make it happen for me.
“I would also like to thank Urban Fitness for giving us the opportunity to use their facilities to help us do our first charity challenge.”
Visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/kayakforkids for more.
The group is also looking for sponsors to help with equipment and have asked anyone who wants to support their cause to get in contact.
