Share with:
ALEX JONES AND BRAVE MUMS CONQUER THEIR FEARS TO TAKE ON THE DARKEST DEPTHS OF PORTH - YR - OGOF CAVE IN THE MOTHER OF ALL CHALLENGES FOR SPORT RELIEF
Today, Alex Jones and her team of inspirational mums faced up to some of their biggest fears as they headed deep underground on the Mother of All Challenges for Sport Relief. The five mums crawled their way through tight passages and had to navigate a maze of dark caverns to make it out of Porth Yr Ogof cave in the Brecon Beacons.
The mums had to overcome huge anxiety and fear as they abseiled down to take on 'Death Ledge', 'The Letterbox' and 'The Toilet’. This set of extremely tight and narrow passages forced the mums to crawl the claustrophobic paths and wade through murky water to make it out into daylight.
Speaking after being underground for several hours, Alex said:
“For me, the caving challenge was the biggest unknown out of all them. I had always assumed this would be more about mental strength than physical but as we started crawling the horrendous passages we soon realised that was wrong. It required tremendous stamina to push our bodies through on our hands and knees. I have never experienced anything so murky and never been more glad to see daylight in my life. Thankfully, I had the mums by my side!"
To find out how the mums are getting on, tune in to The One Show tonight (15th March) at 7pm on BBC One.
The four mums are:
• Amal Hassan, 31, a mum of one from London. Amal is a trained doctor specialising in Sports Medicine.
• Debbie Williams, 50, a mum of four from Bristol. Debbie is a support worker for adults with learning difficulties.
• Jodi Dowse, 28, a mum of two from Bristol. Jodi works at BlueBell, a charity providing emotional wellbeing services to families during pregnancy and after birth.
• Leigh McLean, 44, a mum of three from Glasgow. Leigh works for a construction company.
Our intrepid team of mums want the public to support their efforts with donations to help vulnerable people in the UK and across the world live happier, healthier and safer lives as well as raise awareness of maternal health issues. Maternal health is one of the causes funded by Sport Relief money and something close to the group’s hearts as each of the four mums have experienced their own maternal health issues.
You can sponsor the team at SportRelief.com/mums.
What does the Mother of All Challenges have in store?
• Starting at Loch Ness on Sunday 11th March – Mother’s Day – the team braved the freezing cold as they swam a section of Scotland’s most famous loch.
• On day two (12th March) the team laced up their hiking boots to conquer the Helvellyn range in the Lake District.
• On Tuesday 13th March, the team tested their endurance; cycling up three of the Lake District’s toughest passes: the Kirkstone Pass, Hornister Pass and Newslands Pass.
• Our mums next travelled to Alex’s home country of Wales. They headed deep underground, crawled their way through tight passages and a maze of dark caverns to make it out of Porth Yr Ogof cave in the Brecon Beacons.
• Friday 16th March will culminate in a marathon finish. Our fearless mums will tackle a relay coastal run across the hilly Welsh coast. The test will finally end with a triumphant crossing over the finish line in Swansea.
For the first time ever Sport Relief 2018 is asking the entire nation to take on a huge collective challenge – beating a billion steps a day, every day, from 17th-23rd March. For more information on how to get involved with this year’s Sport Relief campaign, download the Sport Relief App or go to sportrelief.com.
ENDS
For media enquiries contact:
Comic Relief Media Team
020 7820 2432 / media@comicrelief.com
For image enquiries contact:
Lucille Flood
0795899168 / l.flood@comicrelief.com
Photography team
Photography@comicrelief.com
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Sport Relief brings the nation together to get active, raise money and change lives. Since 2002, Sport Relief has raised over £335 million. The money raised by the public will be spent by Comic Relief to tackle the critical issues affecting people across the UK and the world. This year, Sport Relief culminates in a week of activity from Saturday 17th to Friday 23rd March, leading to an unmissable night of TV on the BBC.
Comic Relief is a UK charity which aims to create a just world, free from poverty - where everyone is safe, healthy, educated and empowered. Since 1985, Comic Relief has raised over £1 billion. That money has helped, and is helping, people both at home in the UK and across the world. For information about Comic Relief and the work it carries out, please visit www.comicrelief.com
Comic Relief, registered charity 326568 (England/Wales); SC039730 (Scotland)
