After the success of last years challenge, I managed what I intended to do the previous year, which was to play 24hrs. The reason why the previous year I could not play for 24hrs consecutively had to do with the venue (and also with fitness). After the previous year disappointment, I decided to split the challenge over two days. The venue was always @ Dyke Park Tennis Club, who gave me great support.
Like the previous year, I put together a schedule so that people could play with or against me. Similar to the year before, I started playing tennis at around 6.00am and will finish around 9pm (15 hours). The following day, on a Sunday, I completed successfully the challenge. And above all, we had a lot of fun doing it.
Many people participated and together we managed to raise a very large sum of money through Justgiving (nearly £2000, excluding the matching scheme from my employer) for Ocean Generation, a charity concerned with restoring balance between humanity and sea life.
Clearly my level of fitness was much improved since I had played tennis regularly for over two years, and several times a week. However, the level of intensity dropped considerably due to the arrival of little Santiago. So, this challenge was dedicated to him!
This is the email I received from Ocean Generation (Plastic Oceans UK) after completing the event:
Federico congratulations and thank you! 24 hours of tennis is an incredible feat! Amazing, really.
You have earned a tremendous sum for this charity. Plastic Oceans UK is a registered charity with the objective of keeping plastic out of the ocean “within a generation”. With that said, our efforts effect change now. Money donated to the charity allows us to do many things, including the following:
-we work with schools to provide education materials to create ocean literacy, awareness and action amongst schoolchildren
-we fund scientific research so that all we do and say publicly, and all our efforts are substantiated in scientific fact
-using what we know through research, we work to effect change governmentally by informing policy
-we work with businesses and corporations who want to increase employee awareness and action with regard to the use and disposal of single-use plastic
-we campaign to increase public awareness of the proliferation, detrimental use and disposal of plastic, particularly single-use plastic
Please also refer your supporters to the website for a more comprehensive look into Plastic Oceans UK, https://plasticoceans.uk.
Again, we are thrilled and thankful with your efforts on behalf of Plastic Oceans UK.
Sincerely
Plastic Oceans UK