I'm undertaking the UK's longest team endurance challenge, the Trent100 to raise money for The Rivers Trust.

Spending a lot of time on or in rivers (I'm also an outdoor swimmer), I'm acutely aware of the issues, for example raw sewage being discharged into rivers daily as well as chemical run off from crop farming and animal agriculture, all of which are poisoning the rivers and anything in it.

Your donation will help to support grassroots conservation efforts across the UK and Ireland. It could help to create a totally new wetland, support our fight against sewage pollution, or enable us to ensure that rivers flow freely for fish.

Working for Benefact Group means my motivation to raise money for good causes and complete the challenge is so much higher, because my employer will double anything I raise.

So even a £5 or £10 donation will make huge difference.

Thanks for your support.

About the Trent 100 - 100km team endurance challenge:

The challenge starts at Great Hayward in Staffordshire early Friday morning, passes through Derbyshire and finishes in Nottingham on Saturday afternoon. I'll be paddling a whopping 100km in total - 57k / 35.5 miles on day 1, then (after resting overnight), the remaining 43k / 25.5 miles on day 2.

The Trent100 is not for the faint hearted. My teammates and I have been training hard to get to this point. Last summer, we paddled (and wild camped) across Scotland from Inverness to Fort William, including 23 miles on Loch Ness with huge swells, breaking waves and hailstones.

For the last year, I've been strength training before work, three days a week to build strength and endurance. Through the winter, when it's harder to get on the water due to conditions, I go trail running on the Malvern Hills where I live. And whenever possible since February, on weekends I've completed long distance paddles (15-30 miles a day), often battling strong headwinds on the rivers as well as a week paddling in the Lake District last month - the circumference of a different lake each day.

Of course, this is all great training for the event. We're praying for a tailwind, which would work in our favour and push us along!

It will all be worth it, not only because of the legendary party at the end of the paddle, but most importantly, because I'm doing it to raise money for a cause close to my heart.