PureGym PT to take part in 24-hour spin cycle for Royal Manchester Children's Hospital

A local personal trainer is taking part in a 24-hour indoor spin cycle, hoping to raise £1,500 for Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Kevin Chaplin, from Castleton, will be 'hitting the spin bike’ for 24 hours at Sandbrook Park’s PureGym on Saturday 1 February, with all proceeds going to Ward 77 at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

A personal trainer at PureGym for two years, Kevin has organised the fundraiser in honour of Layton Bracey – a 6-year-old boy who suffers from a rare autoimmune disease that has recently caused him to go from Stage 4 kidney disease to kidney failure.

Layton developed Henoch-Schönlein Purpura (HSP) - a disease involving inflammation of small blood vessels, causing blood vessels in the skin, intestines, kidneys and joints to start leaking - in June 2019. The main sympton is the body being covered in a spotty rash.

Most people with HSP make a full recovery, however Layton is in the 1% of children that develop HSP so severely that it leads to chronic kidney disease.

After hearing of Layton's story and being a good friend of Layton’s father, Richard Bracey, Kevin has decided to fundraise for the ward where the young boy is treated.

 

 

Kevin said: “After following Layton's journey, I wanted to raise as much money as I could for him and for Ward 77 to help them look after Layton and the other children there.

"I particularly want the money to go towards entertainment for the kids, as a lot of them spend most of the time bedbound.

"I’d never done longer than an hour on the spin bike until a few weeks ago, but I’m up to six hours now. I’m still training and hoping to get up to 10 hours on the bike, and then I’m just going to go for it on the day.

“I’ll be starting on the bike at 6am on Saturday (1 February) and finishing at 7.20am the following morning (Sunday 2 February), with a five-minute break every hour. I’m hoping to keep a nice, steady pace.”

If you would like to join Kevin in his charity spin, 1-hour slots are available - only open to PureGym members - costing £10 each.

Kevin added: “I’m looking for sponsors, but also people who are keen to take part with me. There will be 15 bikes free in the gym on the day and it will be more motivation for me seeing other people doing it too.

"Please help me out no matter how small.”

At the time of publication, Kevin's GoFundMe has raised £470, with an additional £500 raised by one of Kevin's clients at PureGym, Briany Whitelaw, for the cause.

Kevin concluded: “I’m also currently in negotiations with a well-known bank to match the funds if I reach £1,500, which would bring the total amount for the ward to a massive £3,000.”

Donations are welcome on the day at PureGym, Sandbrook Park, Rochdale. Alternatively, bucket collections will be available within the gym.

To donate online and help Kevin reach his £1,500 target, visit:

• www.gofundme.com/f/laytons-fight-against-kidney-failure