Northamptonshire dads cycle 900 miles to visit rugby grounds
Three dads finished a nine-day bike ride around the country to raise money for a brain tumour charity. The trio, who are local to Northampton, cycled about 900 miles (1400km) to every premiership rugby ground in honour of their friend Mark Monaghan, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour last year.Andrew Nicholson, his brother Duncan and Derek Middlemiss took on the challenge and arrived at the Northampton Saints' final home game on Saturday.Duncan said: "We are doing it for the whole brain tumour community in Mark's name."
The trio started their journey at Newcastle Falcons Rugby Ground, finishing at Northampton Saints Rugby to watch the match with Mr Monaghan.Northampton Saints beat Saracens 28-24 and remain eighth in the Premiership after the win.Andrew, who organised the bike ride, said they wanted to do something for Mr Monaghan, who was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma in April 2024."We thought about the London marathon originally, and my eldest daughter said to me, 'you are not running, you are too old, but you like to do things on a bike and rugby'."So, I came up with this crazy scheme, and Duncan and Dereck both said yes, and it came from there."
He set up 'Mark's Mission' and decided to raise money for The Brain Tumour Charity. About £20,000 has been donated through their JustGiving page so far. "Mark's mission has morphed into more than just a bike ride," Andrew added."So, we have set ourselves a target over a load of events."Mr Monaghan said it was an "unbelievable feeling" seeing his friends complete the bike ride. "I am so emotional [about] what they have put in, and why they put in," he said.
His wife, Debbie Monaghan, said: "It's a horrible disease, it changes everything. We want to make awareness of what happens with a brain tumour."We are so proud of their achievements - It is amazing really."She added: "It is just three normal lads doing their bit, it is absolutely amazing."
Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
21 minutes ago
- BBC News
Textile students turn old Blackburn Rovers kits into fashion
Blackburn Rovers have been celebrating one of their greatest ever saves - but this time it did not involve a goalkeeper and instead was a bid to tackle climate change by upcycling old kits. The club asked local fashion students to repurpose kits which were heading to landfill and create a unique collection of clothing, which included skorts, a bell-sleeved jumper and a bag. It is part of Green Football's Great Save which rallies the entire football community from fans, players and pundits to keep kits out of landfill to protect football and the reimagined designs by Blackburn College students, which were on show at Ewood Park, will be auctioned off to raise money for charity. Second year fashion and film and media students from Blackburn College collaborated on the transformed 25 garments, which included taking waist bands off shorts to transform them into crop tops, upcycling track suits into eye-catching jackets and a bag made from two pairs of and media students then filmed as the collection was showcased on the pitch. Textile and fashion student Rihana, who whipped up the bag, said she wanted to put her own spin on all her designs. "I don't really follow football but if I did I would want to wear something that represents me but also still supports the team so I wanted to add some bell sleeves to the jumper," she said. Another student Isaak created skorts - which has the appearance of a skirt but has built-in shorts underneath - and a cropped top from a goalkeepers shirt to add to the collection. 'Create something new' Daniella Slinger, course leader of textiles and fashion at Blackburn College, said: "The fashion industry wastes 92 million tonnes per year globally and almost half of that goes into landfill. "So what we've done with this project is just take a small amount that waste that would have sat in landfill and take it apart, put it back together and create something completely new from it." Blackburn Rovers said the clothing collection will now be sold in an online auction with the proceeds going towards a homeless, refugee and asylum seeker football team supported by the club. Yasir Sufi, head of commercial and partnerships at Blackburn Rovers, praised the innovative creations produced by the students and said it was a "fantastic initiative" to save kits from going into landfill while also raising money for a great cause. "It's a win for everyone," he said. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
26 minutes ago
- BBC News
Mayor and LTA partner to make tennis accessible for Londoners
A three-year partnership has been launched to open tennis up to more people across Sir Sadiq Khan and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) have begun a collaboration, with a £500,000 investment, called Rally Together London - a programme which will train 250 people from underrepresented backgrounds to join the tennis workforce and facilitate sessions for local programme aims to help at least 5,500 more young people to play the sport - with a minimum of 50% to be wider partnership will see the mayor and the LTA work on various initiatives and campaigns to promote women's tennis and women's sport across the capital. 'Inspiring next generation' Rally Together London plans to recruit, train and deploy 200 tennis activators to deliver the sport and help grow the LTA's Barclays Free Park Tennis programme - which offers weekly sessions with equipment provided on public park courts - and LTA SERVES, which takes tennis into local communities for young announcement comes as a women's tennis tournament returned this week to the Queen's Club for the first time in more than 50 years, with the HSBC Championships 2025 running until 15 capital is also set to host the Women's Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham Stadium, as well as football, basketball, rugby league, hockey, cricket, netball, athletics and Sadiq said: "The really exciting aspect of this partnership is that we will be reaching young people across the capital, and specifically young women, as we create new opportunities for them to play tennis, train as coaches and get jobs in the industry."LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd said: "We know that London is a tennis city, with iconic events like the HSBC Championships engaging and inspiring the next generation to pick up a racket and play on accessible community facilities, including park courts in every London borough."Naomi, an LTA SERVES activator from Badu Sports based in east London, said: "Tennis is an amazing sport, and I've seen the impact that it can deliver for young people in London first hand, helping them get active, developing skills and confidence."
BBC News
26 minutes ago
- BBC News
Beat the Street game returns to Barnsley for summer
A competition with prizes has returned to a town to encourage people to become more active by exploring their local Beat the Street game in Barnsley runs until 23 July and asks participants to walk, run or cycle between sensors called "beat boxes" which are installed on can then record points on an app and be eligible to receive initiative is part of Barnsley Council's strategy to improve public health and wellbeing. More than 9,000 people signed up to take part on the first day of the competition being Clancy, active travel commissioner for South Yorkshire and a retired professional cyclist, said: "It's a great way to incentivise primarily young children."The last time we did this, Barnsley accumulated 130,000 miles, which is equivalent to going round the world five times, which is pretty impressive."Gamifying things is important. I think everyone enjoys a bit of friendly competition and I know there will be groups of children competing against each other." Primary schools in the town have received participation packs, including cards and of the public can also find packs in local libraries, museums and the Glassworks James Higginbottom, cabinet spokesperson for environment and highways at Barnsley Council, said: "It's been proven that Beat the Street makes a real difference to getting kids active."The data shows we need to improve physical activity levels, we need to get more people out and about enjoying everything we have to offer in the borough." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
