Lumbers Celebrity Row: John O’Groats to Land’s End 2010

Our six-man team of sports stars and Leicestershire businessmen will be attempting an audacious first: rowing from John O’Groats to Land’s End. We’ve got a target of £150,000 to be split equally between four charities, including The Prince’s Trust.

The challenge is being put together by me - Paul Bassett - and Dominic Gomersall at the Leicester jeweller Lumbers. Also in the boat will be Tigers hero Matt Poole, PricewaterhouseCoopers senior partner Andy Lyon, Mattioli Woods chief executive Ian Mattioli and one surprise sports star crew member yet to be revealed.

The epic 1,097 voyage will see our crew row in the North Sea, the rivers and canals of England, the Bristol Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. We’ve chosen The Prince’s Trust because we admire the fantastic work the Trust does in helping young people to overcome adversity and to have dreams to aim for and to achieve success in life.

A host of sporting and showbiz stars will join in the July 2010 event, including heroes from the Leicester Tigers and British Olympians. Steve Cram will cox the boat into Sunderland, early on in the trip, while Martin Johnson and Austin Healey will take part at Foxton Locks in Leicestershire.

We’ve got months of hard training to come, including lessons in rowing our boat – a gig, the original Cornish lifeboat – off the coast of Cornwall in the winter. Any sponsorship you can give now will help us through the many long hours of work ahead.

You can find out more about the challenge at www.celebrityrow.co.uk

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