People from across the pig sector and beyond are supporting pig industry veteran Richard Longthorp in his January Pressups4Parkinsons challenge.
Having performed the extraordinary feat of 1,000 press-ups every day in January 2024, the Yorkshire pig farmer’s January 2025 challenge is to, collectively, with the help of as many people as possible, achieve one million press-ups throughout the month.
The funds raised will go towards boxing clubs who support Parkinson’s sufferers, while the challenge, which is generating plenty of media interest, also aims to raise awareness of the disease and the work of charities like Parkinson’s UK and the benefits of boxing and other activities for sufferers.
Half way through the challenge, Richard estimated 600,000 press-ups had been pledged and around 300,000 completed. This week, he told Pig World, the challenge was ‘going well with plenty of participation’, but said it was difficult getting people to keep him informed on their numbers, making it difficult to gauge progress towards the one million-target.
“Whilst we are aiming to raise awareness and funds, there are several other benefits coming light, as per a Facebook post from mother of a young lad doing the press-ups, which makes the whole thing worthwhile, at a stroke.
“Honestly considering this boy really struggles to concentrate and follow things through and struggles to stick to a task, he has amazed us at the level of maturity he has shown and how much he has empowered himself to do his press-ups each day.
“Because he knows it’s to help others. It’s nice to hear him talk like that, and it makes us feel really proud.”
Pressupathon
Richard, himself, in his 70s and having lived with Parkinson’s for a number of years, has been performing around 1,000 press-ups per day, including a batch this week near the the Houses of Parliament, with people of all ages joining in, sometimes posting videos and updates of numbers on the challenge’s Facebook page.
He said: “It hurts. It is monotonous. Like last year it is absolutely absolutely relentless. So why the hell are we doing it? “Great Cause. Great Effort. It is a real pleasure and privilege to work with you all and be a small part of that team.”
At the end of the month, Richard and other participants are planning a 24-hour ‘Pressupathon’ – Richard was aiming for 10,000 during the day. “I am interested to know if it is possible,” he said.
Last year, Richard raised £22,000, helping England Boxing develop a coaching course for those coaching People with Parkinson’s, with the delivery of nine courses to over 150 coaches. The funds also helped to run weekly Parkinson’s Boxing sessions at St Paul’s Boxing Academy and Goole Amateur Boxing Club.
“Parkinson’s is a degenerative condition of the brain. It is progressive – it gets worse over time. There is no cure. But… boxing seems to have the amazing ability to help manage the disease and hopefully even delay or slow down the dreaded progression,” the former NPA chair said.
Towards the end of January, the challenge had raised close to £19,000.