As Liverpool vs Manchester City get ready for kick off on the 12 April at Anfield Stadium, twelve friends will enter the stadium in a blaze of glory and sweat after pushing each other in a wheelbarrow 34 miles from Etihad Stadium in Manchester, to show their support for Anthony Nolan.
The Barrow for Marrow team at Etihad where the challenge kicks off
The Barrow for Marrow challenge started as an idea amongst friends at Jaguar Land Rover in Halewood, and will soon become a reality.
The little boy behind the challenge
‘We are doing the challenge as a thank you to Anthony Nolan for saving Charlie Fearns’ life last year,’ said Andy Coles, from Barrow for Marrow.
‘We all work with Charlie`s dad Robbie and we all saw what him and his wife Sophie went though over the past few years while Charlie has been battling leukaemia.’
Little Charlie with some of his heroes
‘Barrow for Marrow wanted to raise funds and vital awareness of the wonderful work of Anthony Nolan by doing something a little bit different. Robbie and myself came up with the idea and it has just snowballed into something bigger than we could have imagined!’
‘We have had lots of support from many different companies including our own, Jaguar Land Rover, football clubs and celebrities. Some of the celebrities will be joining us for the last mile of the walk where we will be pushing Charlie in the wheelbarrow.’
The Barrow for Marrow team at Anfield where the challenge ends
Football clubs and celebrities show support
Football clubs including Liverpool FC, Manchester City FC, Everton FC and Tranmere Rovers FC have donated signed merchandise and Fabio Borini has given his Capitol One Cup Final shirt which is for auction. The bidding is already at £1,500.
Generous Fabio has also donated his boots from the Wembley League Cup final match between Sunderland and Manchester City, to raise more money for the campaign.
Overwhelmed by @borinifabio29 amazing gesture. First his shirt, now his boots from wembley. #safc @reid6peter RT pls pic.twitter.com/DgyrK96TZw
— Barrow for Marrow (@barrowformarrow) April 2, 2014
Many footballers and their families including Fabio Borini, Brad Jones, Gary Ablett, Michael Gray and Jamie Carragher are supporting Barrow for Marrow, along with celebrities such as Gemma Merna from Hollyoaks.
The Hollyoaks cast show their support for the challenge
Helping us save more lives
Barrow for Marrow has already raised an amazing £4,000 towards our lifesaving work.
Craig Wills, Community Coordinator at Anthony Nolan, said, ‘The Barrow for Marrow team are doing a fantastic job to raise money for Anthony Nolan.
They’ve really brought the local community together and have come up with a creative and original way to raise much needed funds.
‘The money Barrow for Marrow raise will be used to pay for donors to join the register. It costs us £100 to recruit, test and look after each donor – any one of them could be a lifesaving match for someone with blood cancer. The more we raise, the more lives we can save.’
The guys are training hard for their 34 mile challenge
How you can help
To catch up with Barrow for Marrow and their training progress you can visit their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter.
You can sponsor them at http://www.justgiving.com/barrowformarrow. All the money you give goes towards our life-saving work.