'Preacher The Storyteller' completes mammoth 100,000 metre row at Northampton gym as part of bid to raise £100,000 for 10 kids' charities

A children's entertainer rowed 100,000 metres in just nine hours at a Northampton gym as part of a bid to raise £100,000 for 10 children's charities.

'Preacher The Storyteller' completed the mammoth challenge at BST Academy gym in Sixfields on Thursday (April 28).

The 31-year-old said: "I trained for it, I was prepared for it, but I wasn't prepared for how grim it was going to be on the body. It was a great moment for me, to know that I can do it. It wasn't an easy feat. If I didn't have my team there it would have been a lot worse.

"Every pull was pain. I could feel the pain surging through my whole body. I just wanted to stop but my friend told me to keep going, so I did. When I did it I was just over the moon. I just collapsed. It was a great feeling. I've always been a person who pushes themselves to the limits.

"My goal, realistically, is to get 100,000 people to donate just £1."

Preacher plans to split the money equally to the following 10 children's charities which include Scope, One World One Heart, Lives Not Knives, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Dreams Come True, SOS Children's Village, Sickle Cell Society, Children Heard + Seen, Northampton Young Carers, and Genesis Son.

The former Northampton Nando's worker said the row was part of a series of fundraising events he is doing to promote his 'ultimate goal' of walking from John O'Groats in Scotland to Great Ormond Street Hospital in five days starting on August 1.

Preacher said: "The purpose is to raise awareness for my walk. That's the main purpose. As I begun to realise, the more I do, the more it raises awareness towards the ultimate goal.

"I was trying to fundraise for the walk but I realised nobody was donating, so I spoke to a couple of people just to express my concerns because I started to doubt myself and if I'd be able to raise the funds.

"My friends said the only reason is because people don't start donating until you start doing the walk. I didn't want to take that risk with raising funds for the children."

So far this year, Preacher has walked up and down Mount Snowdon in six hours and completed the nine-hour row. He now plans on trying to beat the 24-hour rowing world record as part of his series of fundraisers.

When asked where the drive and motivation came from to achieve these amazing fundraisers, Preacher said he wants to become a 'hero and an advocate' for disadvantaged children.

He said: "I remember sitting down one day and saying, 'What about the children? Why is nobody talking about the children? They've lost a lot [during Covid and the war in Ukraine]. It really started to hurt me.

"Let the children be safe, let the children be looked after. Children should be our main focus.

"They need someone, they need a hero, they need someone to fight their battles. As much as I want to become a children's storyteller and entertainer, it's as much about becoming a children's advocate. And that's what's been fueling the fire to do this."

To donate to Preacher's JustGiving page click here.