Dad rows his ‘boat’ to keep charities afloat
ROWER TO COVER THE DISTANCE OF RIVERS FROM GARDEN
DURING this challenging time, hundreds of charities across the region are struggling due to lack of funding.
But a dad-of-two has come up with a unique way to help and is set to row the length of three North East rivers throughout May to help local vulnerable families.
After seeing first hand through his one-year-old daughter Polly, the vital work that the charity Children North East do Tommy Wanless is ready for his challenge.
And now two weeks in Tommy has set the target to raise £1,000 by rowing the lengths of River Tees, River Wear and the River Tyne – all in the comfort of his back garden.
Tommy found out about the work of Children North East after his baby daughter Polly and her mum, Louise Aitchinson, started to attend the charity’s Boogie Bairns sessions.
The 30-year-old, from Newbiggin Hall, said: “It’s been really good for Polly’s development over the last year and it’s helped Lou a lot post-pregnancy too.
“Children North East help a vast number of children who come from all sorts of backgrounds who need far more help than many of us could ever imagine.
“I want to ensure that families across the region can continue to receive support from Children North East and by raising funds it will help ensure that their classes and learning can continue so they can keep doing the brilliant job that they already do.”
And to continue to support families, the baby music sessions have moved free online during lockdown for parents of babies and children under fiveyears-old.
After now completing 137km of River Tees, Tommy is currently taking on 97km of River Wear before completing on 118km of River Tyne – averaging around 11 km a day.
Tommy is performing his challenge on a Concept2 rowing machine kindly loaned to him by North East businessman and philanthropist, Sir Graham Wylie. And Tommy’s friends and family have been backing him all the way with his friends joining in on their own rowing machines via Zoom.
Tommy’s also lightened the task by dressing up in different outfits, much to the amusement of his four-year-old daughter, Lola.
Tommy added: “Lola dressed me up as a fairy one day and on May 4th – Star Wars Day – I dressed up as Darth Vader.”
If you’d like to sponsor Tommy, visit his JustGiving page on the internet.