CrossFit couple undertake burpee challenge for Chestnut House

Dedicated parents have sparked a country wide CrossFit burpee challenge in order to raise money for The Sick Children's Trust, the charity that supported them when their son was born prematurely.

Su Barker and her partner Alan, from Essex, are tackling an intense hour-long burpee challenge with their friends in order to raise money for The Sick Children's Trust, the charity that was there for them when their son, Stanley, was born thirteen weeks prematurely.

Stanley was born at just 27 weeks at The Rosie Hospital in Cambridge. For the three weeks that Stanley was being treated at The Rosie the family stayed at Chestnut House, one of The Sick Children's Trust's 'Homes from Home' located in the hospital grounds.

Both Su and Alan are keen Crossfitters and when the family moved into Chestnut House they were helped by Carl Saville, the head of their local CrossFit box. Carl then decided to organise an event with three other local CrossFit centres in order to get the word out about the charity that was helping his friends.

The Sick Children's Trust has ten 'Homes from Home' across the country, providing the families of sick children with emotional and practical support, as well as free accommodation close to the hospital.

The event has now taken the form of a gruelling one-hour-long burpee challenge at four different CrossFit centres in Colchester, Chelmsford, Ipswich, and the event has even spread north to Blackburn and Ashton-Under-Lyme.

The fundraising event will see Su, Alan and their friends, tackle in turn the infamous four step cardio exercise, meaning that for one full hour, at several locations in the UK, there will be people doing the move to raise funds for The Sick Children's Trust.

Mum Su says: "Staying at Chestnut House was a lifesaver – it gave us somewhere to chill out after days on the ward, and the House Manager was so supportive and was there whenever we needed a chat. It was also amazing having the facilities to express and store milk which was a huge relief when you have so much else to worry about.

"I can't wait for the event, we are hoping to have a barbecue after the challenge so it should be a really good day. We wanted to wait for Stanley to be out of hospital and now he's home we really just want to spread awareness of what the charity does and raise as much as possible."

Abigail Abdel-aal, Chestnut House Manager says: "It's fantastic to hear that Stanley is home with his parents and is doing so well. We are funded entirely through donations so it's brilliant that they have already raised £900 for us. We will definitely be thinking of them while they are tackling all those burpees!"