Fishing for Schools founder Charles Jardine takes on marathon fishing challenge

Twenty-four hours, three fisheries and a 60-mile run – that's the essence of Fishing for Schools founder Charles Jardine's latest fundraising scheme - The #WessexWaterChallenge.

At 10am on March the 10th Charles will start fishing at Clatworthy Reservoir in Somerset, on a mission to catch a trout. That done, he will run the 14 miles (a half-marathon) to Hawkridge Reservoir, near Spaxton, where he will catch another trout.

Then comes the really hard part – his next fishery is Sutton Bingham, around 46 miles away. Charles will run there through the night in order to net another trout by 10am on the 11th of March.

Charles, 65, from Downton, Wiltshire, is an international fly fisherman and nature artist and coaches the England Youth Fly Fishing team. He has run the London Marathon three times but says this is by far his biggest challenge.

He said: "It's really scary! I have an expert cartographer on the case, helping me to plot the best route, but it is going to be a very, very long way and I really do not know how long it will take me to run. Then there's the fishing – as any angler knows you never know what to expect when you pick up a rod, so that could also be a challenge."

All money raised in his Wessex Water Challenge will raise funds for Fishing for Schools – the initiative set up by Charles 10 years ago, which introduces children to fishing and nature through short courses which are integrated into the National Curriculum, and Casting for Recovery, which offers healing fishing retreats to ladies who have or are recovering from breast cancer.

All three fisheries that Charles will be visiting belong to Wessex Water, which is helping to sponsor the event. By sponsoring Charles on his challenge you will help ensure that many more people can benefit from these amazing initiatives.

Charles will also be running in memory of his beloved constant companion black Labrador Midge who died on 4th January aged 12.

You can sponsor Charles on his Just Giving page by clicking the button below or you can Text to Donate by texting the code TCAF50 and the amount you would like to donate to 70070. E.g. - Text TCAF50 £10 to 70070. Thank you for your support!