Sport Relief 2012 - Challenges

Former England cricket captain Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff went all-out to raise cash for Sport Relief 2012 in the 3rd Openreach Sport Relief Challenge: "Flintoff's Record Breakers".

On Monday 19 March, he attempted to break or set a 14 Guinness World Records in twelve hours.

The records ranged from the bold and daring to the downright daft. He kept up a fast pace to get through the list, dashing around London between locations by the quickest means possible.

He appeared throughout the day on various TV and radio shows to gain as much support and sponsorship for his Record Breakers as he could. The hawk-eyed umpire from Guinness World Records watched his efforts closely, instantly confirming (or disqualifying) each and in the end, he managed to beat 12 records, including two which involved some of our employees.

Sport Relief is an initiative of Comic Relief, registered charity 326568 (England/Wales); SC039730 (Scotland). 

John Bishop survived his Week of Hell and raised over £1.6 million (and counting) for Sport Relief.

Starting in Paris on Monday, 27 February, he cycled 185 miles through rain, tyre punctures and even a tumble, reaching Calais at nearly 3 in the morning.  After a very short nap, John was joined by Davina McCall, Freddie Flintoff and Denise Lewis in a boat and rowed a punishing 22 miles across the Channel to Dover.

Exhausted, sore and a bit seasick, sleep was a welcome but brief respite as Wednesday morning saw him donning his running shoes to start the first of three marathons – taking him from Dover to London.

With each step, John experienced massive pain driven by shin splints and a nasty Achilles injury, but the crowds, including excited school children, and Openreach employee volunteers cheered him on through each mile.

Chris Moyles and Comedy Dave from BBC Radio 1, Dermot O’Leary, Frank Skinner, Robbie Savage and his own brother joined him for various legs (no pun intended) of the gruelling 90 miles as John ran his way through villages, farms and cities throughout the counties of Kent.

Absolutely knackered and limp-running in pain, John arrived in Trafalgar Square a few minutes past five in the evening greeted by hundreds of well-wishers, waving flags, wearing “bishop” mitre hats and holding banners.  As he crossed the finish line, bursts of flame exploded in the air and he embraced his family and then his friend and fellow comedian Jason Manford, who emceed the activity in the Square.

Throughout the week, John kept focused on the end goal – which was to raise enough money to provide a pentavalent vaccine for 250,000 children in the poorest countries in Africa.  After catching his breath and hearing the total tally he said, "That’s just blown me away.  That money’s going to change lives."

Openreach is proud to have supported David in his biggest challenge yet, as he spent eight days taking on the River Thames. Starting in Lechlade, Gloucestershire, the 140 mile journey saw him swimming past many major towns, such as Oxford, Reading, Henley, Maidenhead, Windsor, Kingston and Richmond, on his way to the ultimate goal of Westminster.

And not only did he swim the Thames in just eight days, he braved unusually cold conditions, putting up with a serious stomach upset on the way. He even found time to rescue a drowning Labrador.

Just as he did when he swam the Channel, he's once again been raising money for Sport Relief – over £1million.