<p>&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><strong>So what am I raising money for?&nbsp;</strong></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><strong>Anthem for a Child</strong> celebrates 10 fantastic years of Music Education with the OAE. Building on partnerships the OAE has developed over time, this tour will take a 20-piece OAE across the UK delivering concerts and workshops to over 5000 children. &nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">This mammoth project which celebrates a decade's worth of work, needs an equally fantastic fundraising campaign and we wants as many people to get involved as possible. &nbsp;So as an organisation we have decided to pledge 5000 miles - a mile of activity for every child. However as an ex-marathon runner with bad knees and a kettle-bell obsession I have decided to do something a little different! &nbsp;<strong>A&nbsp;5000 Kettle Bell swing challenge...</strong></p> <p class="MsoPlainText">I have been using Kettle Bells as a form of exercise training for some time, and from the moment I took my first beginners course I was hooked.&nbsp; These strange cast iron-bells which come in a variety of weights and pretty colours are so incredibly versatile; you can swing them between your legs, over your head, one arm, double arm, double bell as well as all manner of weight training moves such as push presses (like in my picture) and more complicated moves such the Turkish Get Up or Renegade Rows&hellip;&nbsp; The most simplest of moves is the swing, and to co-inside with 5000 children taking part on the <strong>Anthem for a Child </strong>project&nbsp;I am going to endeavour to complete 5000 swings over the course of the tour.&nbsp; The tour lasts just over 10 days visiting Plymouth, Totnes, Bradford-on Avon, Southampton, Hastings (then home to London for a day), Bury St Edmonds, Chesterfield and York.&nbsp; &nbsp;As Projects Director of the OAE, I am usually involved with concerts in Concert Halls, but have offered my services to out fabulous Education Department to help manage the tour. &nbsp;My trusty 14kg kettle bell will travel with me throughout!</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">I usually attend kettle bell classes led by the group www.Fitterlondon.co.uk and as one class to the next is never the same completing 5000 swings on my own with only an I-pod for company is going to be tough, mentally as well as physically.&nbsp; I expect to get very rough calluses on my hands from holding the bell so I better take a good supply of hand cream.&nbsp; I'm a morning exerciser so the plan is to fit in 500 swings a day in my hotel room before breakfast!&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">Let's see if I can get into the swing of it&hellip; boom boom&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>