Northampton couple who both work for NHS take on three 12-hour shifts of boxing

A couple who both work for the NHS are using their weekend off to raise money for a local charity by completing a boxing marathon.

Colin Toal and Lisa Calvert, who live in Upton, will mimic long healthcare shifts by boxing for 12 hours on every day of the bank holiday weekend, starting May 8.

The pair hope to raise at least £2,000 for the Northamptonshire Health Charity, which supports the county's hospitals and NHS staff.

Colin, who runs Women’s Boxing Northampton in Far Cotton, said: “We know what it is like and it makes you appreciate how hard it must be for those working in the Covid wards.

“It must be a nightmare for them so we just thought we needed to do something to raise some money.

“We’ve got the weekend off and we have a communal garden so we thought we’d hang a bag up and do three 12-hour shifts of boxing and see how much we can raise.

“My partner Lisa has only just got involved in boxing since the lockdown. She used to swim a lot.

“I got her on the pads so I could teach her and she has picked it up really quickly and now she has got the bug.”

The duo found inspiration for the challenge from a friend who raised more than £4,000 after completing three 12-hour shifts of cycling in his garage.To also mimic the shift pattern of NHS workers, Colin and Lisa will complete 36 hours of boxing over the three day weekend, some of which they will live stream on social media so that others can join in.

Colin added: “It’s going to be hard there is no doubt about that, but we’ll try and have some fun with it.

“I will be a lot of me tutoring Lisa and we will do live challenges too; how many punches we go do in a minute, press up challenges and how long we can hold a plank for, that sort of thing, so people can join in and hopefully donate.

“We’re hoping to get up early and get out there and do 7am until 7pm so we have the evening to relax.

“If one of us needs a toilet break or needs to get some food the other will stay out there so that we are out there for the full 12 hours.”

To get involved in the parts of the challenge that Colin and Lisa will live stream, visit the Women’s Boxing Northampton Facebook page and to donate, visit their JustGiving page.

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