Print company boss dedicates fundraising to Leighton charity KidsOut

It has expanded its portfolio to offer bespoke sportswear and director Michael Banks will use #TeamDiverze to raise the majority of the £5,000 pledged to KidsOut.

He said: “We got to know about the charity through doing their printing.

“I found their work really inspiring which got me thinking about what we could do to help them.

“I emjoy running, triathlon, that sort of thing, so thought why not combine that with fundraising?”

Michael will start by doing the London Marathon in April.

He will then tackle one of the toughest events on the triathlon circuit – Ironman Lanzarote.

This is a three discipline event, comprising a 3.8km swim which will take place in the sea, a 182.2km cycle ride and a 42,2km run to finish.

There’s a time limit of 17 hours and Lanzarote is recognised as one of the hardest events on the Ironman calendar because of the many hills on the cycle section, the relentless wind and the year-round heat of the Canary Islands.

From there he will move on to the two-part Tour of Cambridgeshire – the Chrono, a 26.55km time trial, followed by the Gran Fondo, a 120km bike race through the county.

Once these three major tasks have been completed, Michael will take a short break before entering a few smaller events later in the year.

He said: “I estimate the total distance I’ll cover over the next 12 months will be in the region of 10,000km.

“And I’m hoping all the training required for these energy-sapping challenges will inspire people to sponsor me throughout the year.”

> Sponsor Michael at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/iamMichaelBanks or follow his progress at www.diverze.com or www.iamMichaelBanks.ukisit