A personal trainer and yoga teacher from Sonning Common has raised (quite literally) more than £5,000 (including gift aid) for Launchpad in a sponsored pull-up session!
Harvey’s challenge
Harvey Draycott spent the Saturday night before Christmas in Henley’s Adv Gym, where he works, doing a staggering 2,160 pull ups – that’s about four every minute over nine hours!
The challenge was to do as many pull-us as possible in nine hours in a EMOM style workout (Every Minute On the Minute) and he did no miss one set or rep in that time!
“I really wanted to do something to support people who are homeless at Christmas. The challenge I set myself was to do as many pull ups as possible, starting 9pm on Friday 20 December and finishing 6am Saturday 21 December.
“I chose this time window as I thought that this would be a particularly tough time for the homeless, so in doing this challenge throughout the night I was trying to make it as hard for myself as possible both physically and mentally.
“I can’t even comprehend what people who are homeless must go through day to day, let alone the nighttime, so doing this challenge overnight felt even more appropriate.”
Harvey was supported throughout the night by friends and colleagues who encouraged him to keep going.
“I did about five weeks of training for this three times a week, but then had to stop because of a small injury so couldn’t do anything for nine days before the challenge,” he said.
“So many people had generously sponsored me that I didn’t want to let anyone down, so I went ahead with the challenge and I’m so glad I did.
“It was tough, but that’s why it was a challenge. My partner came to the gym at 4am to support me until the end of the session so that was great and helped get me through.”
Why Harvey picked Launchpad
Harvey said he hadn’t heard of Launchpad until he started doing some research into local homeless charities.
“I always feel very aware of how lucky I am to have a roof over my head and able to spend Christmas with loved ones, friends and family. This is why I wanted to support a homeless charity.”
Harvey said he couldn’t sleep on the Saturday after his challenge, but then was able to relax and enjoy the Christmas season after seeing the donations on his JustGiving page keep on rising!
“I am so grateful and humbled by the generous donations from people – I can’t quite believe how much has come in after I set out to raise £1,000.
“I’m so pleased that I could support such a wonderful local cause – I hope it helps.”
Fiona Keyte, fundraising manager at Launchpad said: “Harvey has smashed his challenge and raised an amount for Launchpad for which we are incredibly grateful.
“Including gift aid, the total is around £5,000. Demand for our services is always rising and we helped more than 1,800 people last year.”
If you want to donate to Harvey, please visit: Harvey Draycott is fundraising for Launchpad Reading