An Ickleton dad is taking on a gruelling triathlon challenge in memory of his son Tom, who died of a brain tumour at the age of nine.
Andrew Whiteley will join three other members of F45 gym in Cambridge to cycle to Brighton and back as part of the 'Tri for Tom'.
The group will set off on Tuesday, May 9, stopping at other F45 gyms in London on the way and taking part in physical challenges with employees while they are there.
Once they arrive in Brighton - after a 200km journey - they will be swimming as far as they can before staying overnight in the area and cycling back to Cambridge the next day.
The challenge aims to raise £5,000 in memory of Andrew's son Tom Whiteley, who died in 2010.
Andrew Whiteley training for the triathlon challenge (Image: Tom's Trust)
In 2011, Andrew co-founded Tom's Trust with Tom's mum Debs - a charity which supports children with mental health care after a brain tumour diagnosis, as well as their families.
Andrew said: "When Sarah at F45 said that she wanted to undertake a significant challenge to raise funds for Tom’s Trust and that she wanted me to be involved I had no idea she would come up with this.
"I haven’t ridden a bike any distance since I was a kid and Brighton is a very, very long way away!
"I love a challenge though and like Tom I’m a fighter and will never give up!"
The other three members taking on the challenge are F45 owner Sarah Craske, coach Callum Osborne and Tom's godfather Simon Harrison.
Callum has coached Andrew since he started at F45 gym, and - as Andrew's friend - wanted to support the charity, while Simon is a keen cyclist who likes to support Tom's Trust wherever he can.
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Sarah said: "We’re all fit but we don’t cycle so it’s a really big challenge for us.
"The other studios are happy to get people involved as well and I think they’ll jump in with everything, which is really lovely and will help us feel supported and motivated in completing this challenge.
"We’ve got a great supportive community here as well so they’ll back us.
"Andrew is one of our foundation members and a great part of the community. He approached us about bits and bobs for Tom’s Trust and this was our idea about doing something bigger to raise awareness and much-needed funds for the charity. I
"t sounds really cheesy but we have a lot of time for him, he’s a great member, and he really supported us through COVID when it was difficult for businesses.
"He’s just a really nice guy, we heard about what happened to Tom early on and wanted to do something to help."
You can donate to the team's JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/page/f45-training-studios-uk-1681487936410.
Tom's Trust provides mental health, wellbeing and psychological support to 371 children and their families in the UK.
To find out more about Tom's Trust go to https://www.tomstrust.org.uk/.
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