In 1983 I lost my mother. at thirteen. Back then, professional support systems for bereaved children & mental health just weren’t as accessible as they are now, which meant that I had to deal with his grief as best I could, alone. And it was discovering tennis that gave me the crucial support I Needed.

Tennis has been a touchstone for me my whole life. Now at 51, a father of four and a rather successful businessman (I founded and am CEO of Exacta Technologies), I wanted to do something that might help children today who, like me, have to deal with the loss of a parent. That’s why I turned to Grief Encounter a remarkable charity that supports bereaved children - and what could be a more appropriate way of fundraising than playing tennis?

This summer, on Friday 1July at the Long Ashton David Lloyd Centre, I  will be taking to the court, along with the help of local ex-professional player Paul Maggs, for an 11 hour 38 minute game of tennis. That’s a significant time: it represents 41,000 seconds: one second for every child in the UK who has lost a parent in the last 12 months.

Myself & Paul will be stretched to the maximum in a gruelling test of mental and physical endurance. There is no doubt this challenge will be brutal, and the people that know him best say that I am mad to do it, but using tennis to push myself to the limit is what made the perfect support for me, when as a child, I needed it most. So it only seems fitting now, to give something back, I can use this sport again to help support hundreds more bereaved children