DOZENS of gymgoers exercised through the night as part of a 24-hour fundraiser for two charities close to their hearts last weekend and they managed to raise more than £5,000 in the process.

The Box a gym on Carlton Industrial Estate is described as a close-knit family with community spirit in abundance.

They’ve already completed an array of fundraisers true to the statement in recent months and it again came to the fore during last Friday’s 24-hour fundraiser, which may just be the hardest yet.

The two charities Barnsley Hospital Charity and Cancer Research UK were chosen as they were close to members’ hearts.

One of those members, 57-year-old John Firth, was diagnosed with prostate cancer just over a month ago.

And he managed to complete the entire 24 hours.

He told the Chronicle: “It was hard but it went really well.

“I think there were about 20 of us who stayed overnight and others who came throughout the day.

“I almost fell asleep on one of the bikes I was absolutely goosed.”

Starting at 5pm on Friday evening and not ending until 5pm the following day, those in attendance had to show both physical and mental resilience to complete the event.

And they certainly did that as each member started a new gym session every hour, on the hour.

“From 5pm until midnight it was all going really quickly,” he said.

“It was really good.

“Then from about 5am it started to get really hard.

“It was so difficult but it was still really good.

“I’m still recovering now.

“I’ve never been in pain quite like that.”

And the gym’s hard work has paid off, having raised more than £5,000 for the two charities.

John added: “The support was absolutely unbelievable.

“We were all a little bit overwhelmed to be honest.

“The target was to raise £5,500 and we’ve currently raised just over £5,000.

“It’d be great to raise even more than the target.

“Every little helps.”

Rob Cartwright, one of the main organisers of the fundraiser, added: “The sense of community at The Box is very special.

“We wanted to do something really challenging to raise funds for both the Barnsley Hospital Charity, who do incredible work for our town, and Cancer Research UK, whose research impacts so many lives.

“It went really well.

“It was tough but we managed to do it.”

To donate to the fundraiser, follow the link:https://www.gofundme.com/f/24-hours-24-workouts-one-big-cause-well2?attribution—id=sl:ed10b3b8-318a-4a2c-9590-ba7639de386e&lang=en—GB&utm—campaign=fp—sharesheet&utm—content=amp13—c&utm—medium=customer&utm—source=copy—link