Yorkshire Puddings set to raise money for children's cancer charity (From York Press)

Yorkshire Puddings set to raise money for children's cancer charity

9:06am Tuesday 21st February 2012 in Fundraising fun

A NORTH Yorkshire man and his fellow fundraisers are preparing for a series of epic tasks to raise money to help children with cancer.

The Yorkshire Puddings – Sally Kelly, Nathan Davies and Pickering’s Danny Brown – will perform a special pentathlon over the next five months, which will see them climb the highest peaks in Yorkshire, run a marathon in Paris, abseil up to 1,000 feet, cycle from coast to coast, and jump out of an aeroplane to raise funds for a children’s charity.

Mr Brown, 39, set up the event to raise money for Children With Cancer UK, after they helped him gain a place in the Great North Run several years ago.

He said the difficulty of the challenges was part of the reason for taking them on.

He said: “The daily challenges that children with cancer face are far greater than our discomfort with this pentathlon attempt. If people think these events are hard, spare a thought for the children this is all for.

“We have a target of £3,000 currently, and about £300 after starting the collection after family and friends have added to it, but our Facebook page is helping to raise awareness.”

The team is itself funding each of the events in the pentathlon, and members have already contacted local businesses about borrowing racing bikes for the Bridlington to Blackpool bike ride they have planned for May, and £150 to book a group abseil at The Devil’s Gorge in North Wales next month.

Mr Brown said: “Hopefully people reading about this will be generous. Even if it’s just a quid, it will be a help.

“We’re not big fitness freaks or athletes. We’re just three normal people who, instead of looking at others doing it, thought ‘let’s just try and do it ourselves’.

“If people can’t help with money, anything from businesses that could help keep our costs down would be amazing. Anyone with a cycle hire shop, we’re looking for help with racing bikes for the event in May.”

Although Mr Brown has completed runs for charity before, and Nathan visits his local gym regularly, the team is still nervous about the tasks ahead.

Mr Brown said: “We have to train very, very hard to do this, because we don’t have the fitness levels. I’m a truck driver, I’m on my backside all day.

“We’re most nervous about the marathon. I’ve done a half before, and I can’t imagine doing that and turning round to do it again. That’s the one we all fear the most.”

To find out more about the challenge, to donate, or to offer assistance, go to facebook.com/YorkshirePuddings or email puddingspentathlon@gmail.com

The team’s challenges for charity

• Event One: Saturday: The Climb – ascending 5,000 feet, a distance of about 13 miles, and covering six peaks in one day

• Event Two: Saturday, March 24: The Abseil – descending more than 120 feet, including a freefall abseil, followed by a run back to the top of the rockface, repeated until a total of 1,000 feet have been descended

• Event Three: Sunday, April 15: The Marathon – 26 miles along the Champs Elysee in Paris

• Event Four: Saturday, May 5: The Cycle – starting at Bridlington and finishing at Blackpool, the team will travel 150 miles via back roads just weeks after the marathon

• Event Five: Saturday, June 16: The Skydive – the team will be flown to a height of 12,000 feet, before jumping out, freefalling at up to 100mph for 90 seconds, before the parachute is deployed