A YEAR on from their incredible journey, the Bolton Atlantic Challenge team's hard work is paying off for youngsters at Bolton Lads and Girl's Club.

Mark Brocklehurst, aged 53, Matt Nuttall, aged 45, Nick Griffiths, aged 43, and 33-year-old Finn Christo spent eight weeks together as they battled extreme weather and dangerous conditions rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic ocean to raise 250,000 towards the club's junior mentoring project, which offers one-to-one support for children.

The four businessmen experienced 40ft waves, painful salt sores and blisters, deprivation of sleep, homesickness, a diet of powdered food, a bucket as a toilet — and even capsized.

The men, dubbed the "oarsome foursome", came eighth out of the sixteen competitors in the race.

Mr Brocklehurst, who is a board member at Bolton Lads and Girls Club, said: "We desperately wanted to win the race but in the end just to get across was an achievement with a third of the starting line-up needing rescuing.

"The real objective was to raise the cash for BLGC and we certainly nailed that one — in fact we raised more money for our charity than any other team in the race.

"We are immensely proud of what we did and can now see all the blood, sweat and tears has paid off and helping to change young people's lives.

"Who could ask for more than that? Job done. A huge thank you to everyone that supported us and donated."

Since their return, the club has quadrupled the number of children aged eight to 12 taking part in the project, significantly reducing the waiting list.

Claire Stabler, mentoring manager at the club, said: "It's crucial that our intervention is as early as possible to improve the outcomes for young people at an earlier age, having a lasting difference to their lives.

"By addressing issues early we can work on an action plan for young people to learn and develop a range of skills to support them in realising their full potential for a better future."

CASE STUDY:

One nine year old who has enormously benefitted from the Junior Mentoring Project is Jack.

Jack's mum unfortunately lost her life after a long battle with Leukaemia. His dad is in prison and therefore has no contact with immediate family.

Due to these circumstances, Jack went to live with his grandma.

Although this was the best solution for Jack, he found it very difficult to adjust to this new life and, even more so, adjusting to life without his mum.

Throughout this very traumatic time, the only consistent person in Jack's life was his mentor, who supported him to be able to grieve.

Together they planted a tree in mum's memory and created a memory box, so that Jack would never forget his mum, something he speaks to his mentor about quite often.

Jack's name has been changed to protect his identity.