A MARTIAL arts club based in Launceston has raised more than £3,000 for a cancer charity after taking on a gruelling 24-hour challenge.

Recently more than 100 people put on their fighting gear and took to the mats ready to push themselves all in the name of a good cause.

Mark Richardson, leader of Launceston and Wadebridge-based martial arts group Richardson Martial Arts, organised a 24-hour ‘sparathon’ to raise money for MacMillan.

The event saw members continuously sparring for a massive 24 hours, a challenge which pushed fighters to the limit, testing their mental and physical strength.

Speaking to the Post, Mark explained: “The idea was that people would come together and 'fight' cancer. There would be at least two people on the mat at any one time, sparring in any form of martial arts or combat sports they wanted to for the duration of the 24 hours.”

The event came about after Mark’s wife Emma was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year.

Mark continued: “I took on this challenge due to martial arts being a passion and I had done sparathons in the past but not for 24 hours. I wanted to see if I could get people together to 'fight' cancer and raise money for such a great cause.

“MacMillan is a close one to my heart due to my wife Emma being diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Seeing the journey she's going through and, despite being trained in martial arts, feeling helpless to battle the tumour she had, I decided to do something to raise money for the charity that was helping her and that could help others.”

The event saw the community come out in force supporting all those taking part and getting involved with cake sales, the barbecue, teas, coffees and the hugely successful raffle. The event even had some residents taking to the barber’s seat to ‘brave the shave' to help raise money.

Mark continued: “The atmosphere was amazing, everyone who came during the day left having had lots of fun and feeling good about themselves.”

Despite the daytime atmosphere, Mark alongside several brave fighters, pushed on through the night when the crowds had gone home and the room had gone quiet.

Mark explained: “The hard part was during the night when most people had gone home. There were a few of us who stayed overnight and had to spar. It was very tiring and mentally draining but we persevered and got though it before being revitalised when the 'cavalry' started to trickle in again in the early hours.”

Following everyone’s amazing effort, the event has raised a huge £3,572.71 for the vital cancer charity.

Macmillan provides services for people living with cancer at every stage of their cancer experience. With more than three-million people living with cancer in the UK.

The charity provides help for everyone with cancer, allowing them to live life as fully as they can, by providing physical, financial and emotional support.

A spokesperson for the charity said: “Our services reached and supported an estimated 2.3-million people affected by cancer. Our Macmillan nurses, support workers and palliative care nurses reached approximately 730,000 people.

“Our supporters and fundraisers have raised an incredible £226.8-million.

“We're 98 per cent funded by voluntary donations, so fundraising is essential to make sure we can deliver the vital support people living with cancer need.”

After such a successful event raising money for a worthy cause, Mark has thanked all those who took part, as well as some special individuals.

He told the Post: “I’d like to thank Asgard for their generosity in letting me use their venue. Thank Matt Adams and my children Jacob, Louie and Conor for smashing the 24 hours with me. Dave Townsend for being a barbecue king, my mum for amazing cakes and of course my wife for bossing cancer and being the one who really is fighting cancer and winning.”

With so much support and positivity coming from the challenge, Mark says that martial arts has triumphed this week, with people from a variety of backgrounds, with such a range of experiences, all coming together for a common cause.

He said: “I'd just like to add that the event showed us that despite cancer being the horrible unforgiving thing it is, that people of all different backgrounds, Martial Artists from different schools, non martial artists, families, friends we'd never met all stood together as brothers and sisters against a common enemy. People came and supported us and MacMillan and went away with new friends, new interests and the chance to see that cancer doesn't have to be scary and together as one we can fight it.”

Find out more about Richardson Martial Arts via their Facebook page.