The Cheltenham College Boat Club recently rowed one million metres on rowing machines to raise money for two charities.

The first, the school’s charity for this year, is The Chamwell Centre which will be at The Milestone School in Gloucester.

The centre is a new, state of the art therapy facility that will be available for use by both the children at The Milestone School and other people with disabilities in Gloucestershire.

It will be equipped with a large, fully equipped hydrotherapy pool, a sports area for all abilities and facilities for physical and rebound therapy.

The Chamwell Centre will not only allow children with conditions such as muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy to have therapy, but will also allow them to enjoy being active, unrestricted by their disabilities.

The second charity is The James Wentworth-Stanley Memorial Fund.

The JWSMF is a charity set up in the name of James Wentworth-Stanley. After his tragic suicide in 2006, his brother and three friends rowed the 3,000 treacherous miles across the Atlantic.

Bearing in mind more people have climbed Everest, and even gone in to space, this was not an easy task!

The charity helps to raise awareness for the one million suicides that occur each year around the world and provides a safe space for anyone in need of help called ‘James’ Place.’

For each of these one million suicides, there are 20 more attempts. Moved by this horrible and shocking statistic, the club rowed one metre for each death.

It took nine hours to complete the distance and involved over 130 participants.

Around £3000 has been raised so far.