A Preston man is taking his chances with a spin-the-wheel challenge as a legacy to the best friend he lost to cancer.
Will Bennison, 20, created the virtual spin-the-wheel game made up of challenges big and small – all put forward by his friends and family – to raise money for Derian House Children’s Hospice, where his pal spent his final days.
Will’s first challenge was to hike to the summit of Helvellyn, the third highest peak in the Lake District. Others on the wheel include planking for five minutes, cycling 100k in one day, and taking a bath in freezing water.
Will has taken on this epic challenge in memory of best friend Eddie Gregory, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour aged 16 and spent his final days at Derian House Children’s Hospice with his family. Eddie sadly passed away on 15 March, 2019.
Will said: “I was at school with Eds, we were best mates. I have a lot of great memories of him that I’ll always carry with me.
“He was someone who never failed to pick you up when you were down. If he could see that we were bored, he had a way of getting everyone’s attention – he always found a way to entertain us, to make us laugh.”
“When I decided I was going to raise money for Derian House in memory of Eds I knew that I couldn’t just do one thing. I told myself, no, I can do more than that.
“That’s where the idea for a spin-the-challenge-wheel came in. I started asking everyone I know for ideas for challenges that I could add to the wheel.
“Then, whenever it’s time for my next challenge, I spin the wheel and have to do whatever it lands on – no matter what it is!
“I’m really looking forward to the wheel stopping on the three peaks challenge – I’ve wanted to do that for a long time. But, I’m really hoping the wheel doesn’t stop on the ‘shave my head’ challenge!
“I’ve been trying to get more of my friends involved because it’s so important to have that time together. I was young when Eddie died and I wish I had seen him more towards the end. I think of him often, how he’d make us all laugh.
“There are some really difficult challenges, and some really silly ones, but I’m going to put my best into all of them – for Eddie.
“Please donate, the money goes to an incredible charity plus you get to see me complete some crazy challenges!”
Will plans to spin the wheel until he meets his final target of £1,000.
Eddie’s mum, Keeley, said: “Will’s challenge wheel idea is a good idea and we are proud that he has chosen to do this in Edward’s memory. Eddie was really fond of Will and I’m sure he’d be proud of him doing this for a good cause.
“We spent Edwards final days at Derian House. It gave us all a chance to spend time with him. Edward wanted us all to be with him and Derian gave the opportunity for this to happen.”
Sarah Procter, Community Fundraiser at Derian House, said: “We are so grateful to Will for choosing to raise money for our children and young people here at Derian with his crazy challenge idea.
“Just 17% of our funding comes from the government so we rely on the kindness of people like Will who go the extra mile to help us to raise the vital funds we need. We think he is very brave and wish him luck!”
Donate to Will’s challenge wheel.
Will is documenting his challenge journey on his Instagram, watch it here.
