Eight Hertfordshire thirty- and fortysomethings rowed the Channel to raise over £33,000 for a breast cancer awareness charity.

The 22-mile Dover-to-Calais challenge was completed by Craig and Dale Henry, Daniel and Simon Frankel Pollen, Anthony Richards, Adam Cramer, Andy Okin and Miles Kelly. “We all kept going with a bit of banter and humour,” Craig Henry said. “It was a fantastic experience and very satisfying — it feels like a job well done. We didn’t know each other well at the start but it has been an amazing bonding experience. We’re now all very good friends.”

Extra incentive for the Henrys was the beneficiary — Future Dreams, a charity founded in 2008 by their mother and sister, Sylvie and Danielle, who respectively died of cancer aged 61 and 40 within a year of each other.
“We put a picture of my late mum and sister on the front of the boat,” said Mr Henry, 40, who plays football for the London Lions. “Every time we got tired we focused on the picture and that kept us going.”

The rowers will be visiting a cancer research lab to see how the money is being spent and are already comtemplating their next fundraiser. “In any event, it’s going to be different so we have to keep fit.”