A Welsh actor set to tackle the ‘toughest footrace race on Earth’ has visited youngsters in Caerphilly County Borough to give them an inspirational talk.
Next month Lewis Jones and Richard Harrington take on the Marathon des Sables – a gruelling 151-mile race in the searing heat of the Sahara Desert – aiming to raise £100,000 for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.
Mark Lewis-Jones spoke young people involved in a number of council services about the charity challenge on March 12 at Caerphilly County Borough Council’s offices in Penallta House.
Mark’s most recent performance is playing Rob Morgan in hit Sky One comedy Stella but now he is aiming to raise £100,000 for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.
The pair will have to endure scorching temperatures as they run around 151 miles over six days while carrying everything they need to survive on their backs.
Mark told the youngsters he and Richard would also have to avoid dangerous scorpion stings, spiders and snake bites while they compete in the race.
Dr Chris Pepper, who carries out Leukaemia and Lymphoma research at Cardiff University, told the young people about the impact that money raised could have on advanced research into curing blood cancer.
Speaking after the event, Mark said: “The talk seemed to go down very well, the young people asked some very good questions at the end which showed that they had taken the information on board.
“I think that the more we spread the word about what we’re doing the greater chance we have of getting Dr Chris Pepper the £100,000 for the year’s research, which will be a marvellous thing.”
Sophie Jones, 17, Vice Chair of Caerphilly Youth Forum, said: “All the young people were looking forward to this beforehand. It was really good to hear how much hard work and training has gone into this, and it was brilliant to be able to get hands on and see the equipment.”
Caerphilly County Borough Council held a charity raffle to support Mark and Richard’s work, which raised £303. Prizes were sponsored by Tesco, Ystrad Mynach.
To support Mark and Richard visit www.leukaemialymphomaresearch.org.uk/mds.