A WHITEHAVEN man is hoping to 'raise as much money as possible' for charity by taking part in a 150 keepy-ups-a-day challenge.

Stuart Wright started his version of the Bobby Moore Fund's keepy-up challenge on Thursday, February 1, and has committed to doing 150 continuous keepy-ups every day in the second month of 2024 in an attempt to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

So far, Stuart has raised £285 for the Bobby Moore Fund which was set up by the former England and West Ham defender's wife Stephanie shortly after he died in 1993, aged just 51, due to bowel cancer. 

In the midst of his challenge, Stuart explained why he was inspired to take on the football-themed fundraiser.

He said: "I was inspired to do it to help contribute funds for the charity to help fight the disease and as it's football related that helped, as football was always a massive part of my life in my younger days.

"I've been fortunate that I've not had any interactions with this horrible disease directly or indirectly so if me doing 150 keepy-ups a day could help one person I'd be really happy. 150 keepy-ups at my age is hard but nothing compared to what families have gone through and are going through as we speak."

Stuart has documented his progress in daily update videos on his social media page and after a week of keepy-ups, which so far has seen him kick a ball up in the air over 1,000 times, he explained what he is hoping will come from him taking part in the challenge.

He said: "I hope firstly it raises more awareness as the more people that know the better it can only be for research medication etc.

"I want to raise as much as possible - the more money, the more efficient research can be carried out.

"Lastly, I wanted to bring awareness but try and keep things light-hearted as possible considering the subject, so that's why I do the Bobby Moore facts and also relay some damning facts about the disease with the bowel cancer facts."

You can donate to Stuart's fundraiser HERE.