Tom, Felix and Pete completed the Fan Dance, raised an amazing £1,087 for the Will Garvey Trust Foundation and to their great credit, finished third overall. A remarkable achievement, we are so proud of you and grateful for your donation to us.
Here’s what they told us….
What is the Fan Dance ?
We are doing the Fan Dance, which forms part of the UK Special Forces selection in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. Renowned not only for the challenges presented by the gradient and length of the 24km hike, but also the unpredictable and unforgiving weather; the Fan Dance is both a physical and mental challenge.
The team will be completing the challenge on 18 January, 2020, in the depths of the Welsh winter; carrying 35 lbs of equipment, plus supplies and water.
Why are we doing it?
Tom, Felix and Pete all went to the University of Leeds and played American Football for the Leeds Gryphons, where they met and played alongside Will Garvey. Will passed away during the final year of their degrees, which had a profound effect on the entire team. From then on, the Gryphons were determined to raise awareness of male mental health, making sure that nobody felt alone or that they couldn’t talk about the things that were affecting them and their wellbeing.
Over the past few years the Gryphons have continued to preserve Will Garvey’s legacy and have led a series of initiatives to raise awareness of male mental health both on campus and back home. While the group have moved away from Leeds and into different professions, their desire to make a difference has remained. As such, even though they live in different parts of the country, they wanted to get together and complete a challenge in memory of their friend.
