Welcome to my Justgiving page for Lifting the Lions, raising money for Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) in Australia and the 4Ed Foundation in the UK.

The Challenge

Lifting the Lions is a challenge I've created to celebrate and coincide with the Lions Tour of Australia. I’ll be attempting to lift the combined weight of every player, from every matchday squad (both teams), from every match of the Lions Tour, in the time it takes to complete a rugby match.

The Maths

Here's the boring bit to figure out how much I have to lift:

- 23 players a match day squad, 2 squads per match, 10 matches = 460 players

- Average international player weight = just under 105 kilos

- Total weight (460x105) = just over 48,000kg, or 4 London double decker buses, or an Airbus A321 (more or less), in 80 minutes. With a 15 minute half time break of course, just like a rugby match!

I’ll be doing squats, bench press and dead lifts and I’ve already started training, and I can confirm it’s horrible.

The Charities

To honour the ethos of the Lions, I'll be raising money for charities in the UK and in Australia.

The charity in Australia I'll be raising money for is Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect), a wonderful charity which in particularly close to me as my son has autism. They support children and young people with autism (and their families) to live their best life through focused education and employment support.

In the UK, I'll be raising money for the 4ED Foundation (via the Gloucester Rugby Foundation), a brilliant foundation which supports those diagnosed with motor-neurone disease and their families, inspired and set up by the former Leicester Tigers and Gloucester Rugby captain, Ed Slater.

Unfortunately, Justgiving won't allow me to just raise a pot to split between the two charities, so please visit my UK or Australia pages (links below) to donate to which charity you want to support. Or, better yet, donate to both!

When/Where?

I'll be doing this mad challenge just before the third Lions Test at 12pm on 31 July 2025 at Crossfit Amare Vita in Kincumber on the NSW Central Coast.

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Thank you for supporting me on this challenge, and keep your eyes peeled for updates!