At the start of August 2020, Bertie wanted to raise money for charity, and at just six years old, followed in his mum’s footsteps in fundraising for Sightsavers. Bertie challenged himself to swim in the sea at home in Scotland – without a wetsuit – every single day for the whole month. He said:
“I managed to swim on all 31 days and had LOTS of very cold and rainy ones. I still managed to get my head under water and do proper strokes every time. On my last swim lots of my friends from school came to swim with me and cheer me on. I have raised £462 for Sightsavers and am going to have a rest from swimming now!”
Initially registered to take part in the London Marathon in 2020, dentist Ben was among the thousands that were unable to run the streets of London when the race was postponed until 2021. Instead of enjoying not running the 26.2 miles, Ben decided to take on a ‘rowathon’. He said:
“I completed the distance on a rowing machine in my garage and had an open Zoom meeting stream for people to pop in and give encouragement. It was a tough session but had some amazing support, completing the rowathon in two hours and 49 minutes.”