An ex-Army man and bodybuilder from Oldham is taking on a 24-hour non-stop cycling and rowing challenge for a good cause this Christmas.
Matt Scarff (pictured) is doing it all in aid of raising as much money as possible to help people experiencing homelessness.
On Friday (December 20), the sponsored challenge will start at 8am at Heavenly Bodies gym.
Matt will be cycling for 12 hours before jumping on to the rower for another 12 hours without a break, finishing at 8am on Saturday morning.
The gym will be open for the full 24 hours and will be welcoming supporters to help cheer Matt on.
The challenge initially set out to raise £1,000 for national homelessness charity Crisis, to support its work in supporting people experiencing homelessness this Christmas, and all year round.
But to date, he has already raised over £3,000 – the equivalent to reserving over 100 places for people experiencing homelessness at one of Crisis’ centres this Christmas.
Crisis is currently preparing to open its Christmas centres, which are a lifeline for thousands of homeless people over the festive period.
The centres offer immediate relief of warm food, shelter and many health and wellbeing services.
It introduces guests to Crisis' year-round services so they can be supported to leave homelessness behind for good.
Matt said: “I’m a bodybuilder, not a fitness guy, so it’s going to be really, really tough.
“I wanted to do something mentally and physically hard and in doing it I wanted to raise money - it’s gone mad!
“I’m honoured to be supporting Crisis and I’m looking forward to getting started now.
“What’s 24 hours of hell for one person if it can help over one hundred people who are homeless over the Christmas period.”
Richard Lee, director of fundraising at Crisis, said: “The challenge Matt is planning to do is absolutely fantastic – and definitely not for the faint hearted!
“The amount he has raised for Crisis is astonishing and will help us provide food, warmth, shelter and support to over 100 people experiencing homelessness this Christmas.”
You can donate to Matt’s challenge by visiting his Virgin Money Giving page here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=MatthewScarff&pageUrl=1
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