Worcester Buoys almost halfway in rowing challenge

Two friends from Worcester who are crossing the Atlantic to raise money for a children's hospice say they have now completed about half of their journey.

George Farmiloe, 26, and Matt Bladen, 27, set off on 12 December and are rowing in two-hour shifts for the 3,000-mile (4,800 km) crossing from the Canary Islands to Antigua.

They are raising money for the Acorns Hospice which helped care for 16-year-old Jack Dyer who died in November 2020.

The teenager, who had cerebral palsy, was a neighbour of Mr Bladen and was "loved by everyone who met him," the hospice said.

The pair told BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester they were making good progress but that the weather had a big effect on morale.

Mr Bladen said: “We’ve been rowing through the night, so we’re making good progress again.

“For a while it was a bit touch and go, with the weather.”

Mr Farmiloe added: “Time is very abstract out here, some days seem to take forever to go by and other times you sort of have five days go by in a flash.”

He said he was missing being able to have a full night’s sleep and home-cooked meals, but was not craving home comforts too much at the moment.

The pair, who met at the King's School are aiming to raise £100,000.

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