Billy Monger: How Zoe Ball helped me complete Red Nose challenge
DOUBLE amputee racing driver Billy Monger, who lost both legs in a racing accident at Donington Park four years ago has said words of advice from Zoe Ball helped him finish his 140-mile triathlon-inspired charity challenge when he was “running on fumes”.
The 21-year-old tackled the gruelling event over five days to raise money for today’s Red Nose Day – completing the final 50-mile stretch walking and cycling laps of Brands Hatch race track in Kent.
Monger was met by a number of stars and Comic Relief supporters, including pop star Cheryl, during his journey.
BBC Radio 2 host Zoe Ball, who cycled more than 300 miles for Sport Relief in 2018, joined him at Brands Hatch shortly before he finished the challenge on foot.
Monger told how her advice had helped him cross the finish line.
He said: “Zoe came to see me on the last day and at that point I woke up in the morning and I literally had nothing left in the tank before I even started the last day. I was running on fumes basically.
“One of the first things she said to me was about how she felt exactly the same and it was pure adrenaline that got her through the last day, and knowing that you were nearly there. That is exactly how I felt at the time.
“I was a nice bit of relief for me to think that, when I woke up on the last day and felt as bad as I did.
“I thought, ‘I feel terrible physically so how am I going to get through this?’ and the fact that she was like, ‘I felt the same and it was just a pure adrenaline rush that got me through it’, that made me feel more at ease.”
He added: “Everyone that I met, all the celebrities, people like Cheryl and Zoe Ball that had done challenges before for Comic Relief, every one of them had something positive.”
Monger said the thought he was raising money for Comic Relief motivated him to keep pushing through the “dark and tough” moments.
“There were a lot of times during the challenge and during the training where I thought I had bitten off more than I could chew,” he said.
“I didn’t know whether I had enough energy and motivation to get me through it.
“But every time I got to the really dark and tough moments of the challenge, because there were highs and lows obviously, it was just again reminding yourself, ‘Why are we doing this?’”
Monger began racing at the age of six, but in April 2017 he suffered lifechanging injuries in a crash during a British F4 race at Donington which resulted in the amputation of both legs. However, he was back at the wheel within a year and underwent months of training to take on the charity challenge.
Billy Monger’s Big Red Nose Day Challenge screened on BBC One last night and is avalable on BBC iPlayer.
Donations can be made at www.
A DERBYSHIRE woman has made a powerful video about ways men can help women feel safer in their day to day lives.
Rachel Williamson, a 42-year-old English teacher, came up with the poem after a conversation with her daughter Taylor, 20, about the death of Sarah Everard.
The video features many people, most of whom are from the East Midlands, including BBC radio host Becky Measures, YouTube host Shawna Serniak and Nottingham rock band LeftHandLane, sharing both women’s experiences of harassment and men’s efforts to be more conscious of these issues.
The conversation Rachel had with her daughter raised the idea that men didn’t understand the struggle women face daily across normal situations, particularly now as the conversation has become more and more public.
Rachel, of Chesterfield, spoke to men in her life, including her
IT’S US
The streets. The bars. Between parked cars. In dark alleyways.
The crowded trains. The calling out in vain. The office staff room.
In the school playground. The muffled sounds. The crowded festivals. The times we had nowhere to go. The many opportunities you had to say no. It’s me calling out my friends. It’s me knowing where the line ends.
It’s me giving her some space. It’s me showing you my face.
It’s me slowing my pace. Come on, it’s a disgrace.
It’s me just accepting her excuse. It’s me not hearing the abuse.
It’s me educating my brothers. And our sons.
It’s me. It’s me. It’s me. It’s me. It’s me. It’s me. It’s me. It’s me.
It’s me. It’s me. It’s me. It’s us.
partner Russ, and began writing down what they were doing to keep women safe on the streets, and these notes when on to shape the words of the poem.
It was important for her to package the message in a way that would resonate with people, and after a chat with Derby-based poet Jamie Thrasivoulou, Rachel started sending off lines for people to record. When describing the video, she simply said: “The message is
one of solidarity and hope, we’re all in this together, as the title says... ‘it’s us.’”
The Derby telegraph asked our readers on Facebook how we can make streets safer for women and received over a thousand replies.
One said: “Make it mandatory in schools to educate boys on how to be respectful men.”
Another said men should: “Keep your distance and cross the road away when walking behind a lone woman.”
A third said: “Tougher sentences instead of putting the responsibility on women to protect themselves.”
A fourth said: “More street lighting and CCTV.”
THE National Trust is urging Britons to emulate Japan’s Hanami celebration – the ancient tradition of viewing blossom – every year.
In 2020, the charity piloted a Blossom Watch project just after the UK had entered a coronavirus lockdown, with thousands of people sharing images of trees in bloom on social media.
It is now making the campaign an annual tradition and hopes that the sight of blooms will help to lift spirits and enable people to celebrate nature.
A YouGov poll, commissioned by the National Trust, found 36% of adults said they were more aware of the changing seasons compared to the first lockdown.
Of those surveyed, 67% agreed or strongly agreed that spending time noticing nature made them feel happier in the current lockdown.
A total of 65% said watching nature from their window had helped their mood, while 47% told how they are spending more time in nature and want to continue to do so.
Simon Toomer, plant conservation specialist at the National Trust, said: “Blossom watching is a simple pleasure that can help lift our spirits over the next few months.
“It can be seen on city streets, in gardens, public parks, throughout the countryside and even out of the window, for some lucky people.
“Our recent poll revealed a massive boost in people’s everyday connection with nature since lockdowns began.
“And that blossom is the aspect of nature adults are most likely to stop and notice, after the sight of a sunset, the feeling of sun on your face and birdsong.”
The season usually begins with hedgerow blossom – tiny white, frothy blackthorn flowers – before tree blossom such as magnolias begin to unfurl.
Fruit tree blossom – from plum and damson to cherry and apple – then appears, followed by the finale of the white hawthorn coming into flower in May.
Research by the University of Derby and the National Trust, published in the International
Journal of Wellbeing, found engaging with nature could make a difference to feelings of wellbeing.
Professor Miles Richardson said connecting to nature brought benefits “above and beyond” simply spending a certain amount of time in it.
“Nature connectedness and engaging with nature through simple activities like smelling wildflowers consistently emerged as being the significant and prominent factors in explaining mental health and wellbeing,” he said.
“Therefore spending a few moments looking at and enjoying blossom can have a surprising impact on feelings of wellbeing.”
People are urged to take and share images of blooms using the hashtag #BlossomWatch on social media.
The National Trust is also launching a blossom map to record sightings across the country.
THE former operator of Drayton Manor theme park has been fined £1 million after the death of a schoolgirl on one of its rides.
The safety failings of Drayton Manor theme park were highlighted in court after 11-year-old Evha Jannath fell from a vessel on Splash Canyon, a river rapids ride, during a school trip, in May 2017.
Evha, from Leicester, drowned after being jolted and falling into the water at the park.
The theme park had earlier admitted a health and safety breach following the youngster’s death, who studied at the Jameah Girls’ Academy school. The ride operator at the time, Drayton Manor Park Ltd, was fined the sum and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £170 at Stafford Crown Court on Thursday after a two-day hearing.
Stafford Crown Court heard how Evha was ejected from the boat on the water ride while standing up and later fell into 12ft of water after plunging from the conveyor belt which takes vessels to the ride exit.
Re-watching CCTV of the ride on the day of the accident, experts recorded 70 occasions of people standing up in the boats while on Splash Canyon.
The hearing heard how Evha had been playing a game with pals on the ride to see who could get the wettest when she was “propelled” head-first into the water.
An inquest later concluded her death was an accident. But the Health and Safety Executive prosecuted the park operator, which admitted breaching Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Prosecutor James Puzey on Wednesday highlighted a series of failures including a lack of signs, poor quality CCTV and no water rescue equipment.