Burnley PT is pushing himself to the limit for Samaritans

Anthony Tibbs, who is the co-founder of FLS Fitness in Simonstone, set himself the task of completing 250 burpees a day, in one sitting, throughout the month of February.

The idea behind the 33-year-old’s fund-raising efforts was to represent the average number of people who are losing their lives to suicide (125) every week in the UK alone.

However, determined to raise awareness further, the former UCLan student doubled his efforts in the hope of making an even bigger statement.

“I’m doing 250 burpees a day, every day, throughout the month of February,” he said. “I’m doing it to commemorate all the lives that have been lost through suicide. So 125 people on average per week died through suicide in the UK alone.

“There have been a high number of suicides and attempted suicides lately and because of that, and because of the people I know that have unfortunately been affected by it through losing their lives or bereavement, I wanted to do something to represent that.

“The Samaritans are there to help people at crisis point, they’re specialists in helping people deal with any issues and they help the families of those that are grieving.

“With people being affected by suicide in my inner circle and my outer circle it does make you think.

“There are people a similar age to me taking their own lives so it does hit home.”

Anthony, who attended the former Habergham High School, has just hit the halfway point and has already smashed his original fund-raising target.

It was initially set at £250, but he’s already exceeded the £1,000 mark. He’ll be marking the finish with an event at his hub, located at Time Technology Park, on Saturday, February 29th.

“I think I’ve got over the worst of it,” he said. “At the beginning I was pushing myself straight into 250 burpees so it was pretty painful, but now my body’s sort of adapted to it.

“It can get a bit monotonous doing 250 burpees so I’ve tried to keep it fresh. I’ve had recovery days where I’ve tried to take it a bit slower and I’ve had days where I’ve tried to get a personal best for the fastest time I can do it in.

“I’ve also started doing burpee tyre flips and burpee box jumps. I’m just trying to make it a bit more exciting.”

He added: “My initial target was £250 and we’re up to £1,170.

“We’ve well and truly smashed that target. It feels like the sky’s the limit at the minute.

“Originally it was £250 to represent the 250 burpees a day; is £2,500 too big? This is all going towards the Samaritans and every £5 that is donated is potentially saving a life.”

Anybody wishing to make a donation can do so at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tibbsys