Players from Lincoln Rugby Football Club climbed twice the height of Mount Everest – without ever leaving Lincoln.
The 10 participants repeatedly powered up Steep Hill to a total of 18,685 metres to raise money for men’s mental health.
In total, they made £1,935 for the Andy’s Man Club charity during the ‘Everesting Challenge’. The amount far exceeded their goal of £750.
Each person who was part of the effort had to complete approximately 48 reps of the hill, which in a 2019 Ordinance Survey was named England’s fourth steepest street.
Rory Standish, the event organiser, and player for Lincoln Rugby Club, said: “You hear about men struggling all the time and not being able to seek out help so we’re doing this for Andy’s Man Club.”
Prior to the event Standish said: “I haven’t done any preparation, and I don’t think many of the other lads have either so it’s going to be a good shock to the cardio system.”
He praised the work of the nominated charity, and said: “It’s all about trying to get men to talk about how they’re feeling and that at no point you should ever feel alone.”
“We lost one of our former first team players so it’s close to everyone’s hearts”
Andy’s Man Club are a suicide prevention charity which was established in 2016 after Andrew Roberts tragically took his own life.
It encourages men to speak openly about their mental health and has hundreds of weekly clubs that run all throughout the UK, including one in the LNER Stadium in Lincoln every Monday at 7pm.
The players who took part in the challenge – held in November – were all sporting custom Andy’s Man Club x Lincoln Rugby Club T-shirts with the phrase “Boys get sad too” printed on the back.
Alex Brodrick, another of the participants and player for the club, said: “Four years ago we lost one of our own, one of our former first team players to suicide, so it’s close to everyone’s hearts.”
Lucas Whitehead, head of marketing at Andy’s Man Club, said: “It’s great to raise so much money for us because it allows us to invest it in hopefully helping men speak more openly and helping as many people as we can.”
If you would like to donate to the cause, the fundraiser never officially ends so donations will be greatly appreciated at any time.