Man City coach fundraising for Mayo's Daisy Lodge

A COACH with Manchester City football club is taking on two extreme challenges to help fund a new short breaks centre for children with cancer in Mayo.

Jamie Carr has already completed one challenge - an ultra-marathon in the Sahara Desert.

Next up, he will be rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic.

Jamie is raising funds for the City in the Community Thrive project, to help improve the lives of thousands of young people in the Manchester area, and Cancer Fund for Children, who are planning to build a second Daisy Lodge therapeutic short break centre in Cong for children across Ireland diagnosed with cancer and their families.

Jamie has worked with Man City Academy teams for four years. Though having coached some of the very best academy players at the club, it was his experience teaching children in rural India where his ambition to champion opportunities for disadvantaged children first took root, inspiring Jamie’s incredible next steps and fundraising efforts.

At the end of March, Jamie was in Morocco where he took part in the Marathon Des Sables, an ultra-marathon covering 250km of the Sahara Desert, testing self-sufficiency, fitness and endurance.

In December, he will row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in a solo, unsupported voyage. Battling sleep deprivation, isolation and unimaginable physical demand, Jamie will be putting his fitness to the test.

Proceeds will be split evenly between the two charities.

Every month 30 children and young people are diagnosed with cancer throughout Ireland.

The Cancer Fund for Children centre in Co. Down is currently running at full capacity and Daisy Lodge Mayo will help ensure that no child faces cancer alone.

You can support Jamie's Nothing Ventured Campaign at: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/NOTHINGVENTUREDJC.