Two youth workers from Warrington Youth Club are preparing to go the extra mile to help young people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Head of Youth Work Chris Capstick and Sports Coordinator Chris Mills will each be walking 100km to raise money that will go towards supporting young people in the town.
The fundraiser, dubbed the 242424 challenge, doesn’t stop there though, with the duo aiming to complete the feat (the equivalent of nearly five marathons between them) inside what will be a blistering 24 hours.
The mammoth fundraising effort is in response to the growing call for additional support for young people and their families in the town.
Warrington Youth Club, which usually sees hundreds of young people aged 7-19 – or up to 25 with additional needs – come through its doors each week, was forced to close following the COVID-19 outbreak.
The pair will carry out their trek together, statically and socially distanced, on treadmills at the Youth Club gym inside the Peace Centre in Great Sankey on 20th June – exactly three months to the date after lockdown measures were introduced across the country.
During that time, young people have needed support more than ever and staff at the Youth Club have been coming up with innovative ways to respond to this need. From delivering a packed timetable of digital activities over social media to making welfare calls and delivering food parcels.
In total, the 2424 Challenge aims to raise £2,400 which will go towards supplying young people and their families with hygiene packages and activity packs which will include toiletries, educational resources and other games and activities.
The need for such packages has increased massively as time has gone by and with the Youth Club being a registered charity, they now need additional funds to meet the requirements.
To raise awareness, the Youth Club will also publish 24 hours of social media content which will include live streams, activities, challenges and much more for young people to engage with.
Warrington Youth Club is part of the OnSide Youth Zones network and they’ll be supported throughout the day by other Youth Zones across the UK. To keep the ‘24’ theme going, between them the other Youth Zones will walk or run an additional 40km, taking the total to 240km.
Head of Youth Work Chris Capstick said: “The last three months has had a massive effect on everybody across the country. We must not overlook the huge impact it has had on our young people who need our support now more than ever.
“Sadly, the demand for our food parcels and care packages has dramatically risen as the weeks have gone by. The support families need is increasing and the money raised from this will help us reach as many young people as possible in these extremely trying times.
“Chris and I are really looking forward to the challenge – it will be tough but the pain will be worth it if we can hit our fundraising goal.”
