On the 8th to the 11th of February, Harry Banks, Owen Morgan, Matt Boland, James Jarvis and Ben Murphy took part in a 40 hour squash match in the name of charity at Bath Spa University.
The plan was devised by Owen Morgan, who wanted to do a physical activity raising money for two charities at the same time.
Seeing as he’s a squash lover and squash has two players, it fitted logic to go ahead with 40 hours of squash. To make it more competitive – and perhaps rational – he decided to make two teams of two alternating players, each playing for a designated charity: The MS Charity and SANDS (the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity).
After ten hours of squash, James had to drop out due to injury, and Matt – who had been training alongside them – took his place. Harry isn’t hesitant to raise money for charity and in January he shaved his head for Pancreatic Cancer Research charity.
When I asked him how he felt before the match, he said both apprehensive and excited as he wasn’t sure what to expect. He said: “It was physically exhausting but more mentally draining. It got to the point where I was unaware of the time or how many hours we had done. Everything in my head was squash”.
Afterwards, however, he felt elated and proud of himself and the boys, who had all suffered injuries: “The good feeling I felt after 40 hours totally overruled the tiredness and pain. The pain was definitely worth it”.
So far the players have received £148 in donations for their tiresome fundraiser and have done a brilliant job for the two charities, with the link to donate still open: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/HAPPYHORMONES
Our thanks to Rachel Perkins for this feature.
