Selby College student sets herself a 93-mile ‘Rowmembrance challenge’ to raise money for The Royal British Legion

Liz Millard, BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching and Exercise Science student at Selby College, plans to row the equivalent of the Dover to Dunkirk evacuation route and back to raise money for The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal.

After hearing that the The Royal British Legion is unable to sell poppies in the street this year due to Covid-19, Liz and her partner Martin Field wanted to do something to help raise money for the Poppy Appeal in these difficult times.

Liz and Martin will complete the 93-mile rowing challenge over two-days, which will work out approximately around eight hours of rowing each day. They will both row an hour on and then swap over and plan to row at a pace of 10k an hour to keep enough energy to do the full 93 miles.

“As my life revolves around sport, the obvious choice was to choose a physical challenge, but we wanted to do something different. My partner suggested rowing the distance of Dover to Dunkirk, and to make it harder, I suggested that we should do the distance of the round trip. The Royal British Legion is close to both our hearts as my partner is serving and I work in the cadet force, which means we see the amazing things they do for serving personnel and veterans. We really wanted to give back to help the charity during this difficult time and appreciate any support in helping us reach our target of raising £250,” said Liz.

70 Public Service and Sports students from across Selby College have also collectively rowed 52 miles to support the cause.

Liz is an officer in the Army Cadet Force (ACF), which is a youth organisation for 12-18 year olds. She is also the County Sports Officer for Humberside and South Yorkshire ACF and is currently studying BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching and Exercise Science at Selby College. Liz’s partner Martin is a full-time reservist in the Yorkshire Regiment and is also a part of the 4 Brigade Cadet Training Team.

Humberside and South Yorkshire set companies, adults and cadets a challenge to try and raise money for The Royal British Legion this year. Due to many people being unable to leave their homes as they normally would to find a poppy, and with many of the charity’s collectors unable to carry out face to face collections, the charity has asked people to show their support remotely or in any way they can.

“Initiatives such as the Poppy Appeal were set up in difficult times such as the ones we are currently facing to help those in need. Therefore, it is amazing to see one of our students going above and beyond and even more impressively, thinking outside of the box to raise money for the appeal in current circumstances. We wish her the best of luck for the challenge and will be backing her all the way,” said Carla Cantrell, Curriculum Manager at Selby College.

Liz and Martin will carry out the two-day challenge on Saturday, 12th December and Sunday, 13th December at station 14 Functional Fitness in Goole.