Jim Gardner kicked off this year’s fundraising challenges by taking part in the Paris Marathon on 14 April.

The Paris International Marathon is an annual event which takes place from the Champs-Élysées heading towards the Place de la Concorde and continuing through the city to finish at Foch Avenue. Over 50,000 runners were involved and Jim completed the 42km course in just 3 hours 49 minutes.

Dan Weale and Tania Durt (from the Brussels school of International Studies) will join Jim on the 24-hour cycle challenge that takes place on the 25 May, and they will be cycling an impressive 198 miles from Reid Hall (the University of Kent campus in Paris) to Calais.

Preparation for the Welsh Three Peaks 24 Hour Challenge is well under way, with seven Kent Union employees participating in the June event. Alison Gore, Conor Dobbs, James Vesty, Jemma Whyman, Ria Stream, Shelley Wilkinson and Veena King will be travelling up to Snowdonia on Friday 21 June, before climbing to the summit of the highest peak in Wales the next morning. They will then travel south and climb Cadair Idris and Pen Y Fan respectively, before a well-earned celebratory evening in the Brecon Beacons.

The walkers have set fundraising targets of £200-£300 each, which will go towards supporting Canterbury Nightline, Kent Union’s Liberation Groups and the Access to Activities fund. Some participants will also be raising money for other worthy charities, of which they have a personal affiliation with. If you would like to donate, click on the following link and you can find all of our participants’ individual fundraising page.

Good luck to all our fantastic participants!