What is 12for12?

The concept is simple: 2 men. 12 months. 12 challenges. To raise £12,000 for 2 very worthy causes!

Welcome to the 12for12 adventure!

So, how did it happen?

Chatting over a beer and curry in Manchester (isn't that when all the worst decisions are made), we decided that we should embark on a year of challenges, and mostly pain, for the greater good! And 12for12 was born.

Why are we doing it?

David Coleiro

• Give – first and foremost I wanted to do something for the benefit of others beyond myself and raise some significant money for worthy causes. I have seen the impact of both of the charities we have chosen and wanted to help them in a significant way. To achieve this meant something pretty serious
• Challenge – I wanted to do something to raise the bar in terms of testing myself to earn people's hard earned money. A lot of these events are beyond anything I have ever done. And a couple of them are way beyond my physical and mental limits. So, you could say I like a challenge
• Inspire – this challenge is about so much more than Mike and I. Its also about passing on the bug to other people – to take part in one of our events, or their own. Volunteer. Sponsor. Anything really to take up the challenge and run with it. We hope you will. Find out how you can get involved in 12for12.

Michael White

• Giving back – I wanted to give something back and also recognize all the people who went through similar experiences to me. Both my children ended up seriously ill and in hospital within weeks of being born and as a parent it is one of the worst experiences to go through. The doctors and nurses on both occasions were amazingly supportive and understanding and I wanted to recognize that and say 'Thank you'
• Learning – first to learn something about myself. A year is not a small commitment and some of the challenges will test us to the limit and I want to learn what type of person I am in that moment. Second to learn about other people through doing this year and seeing how people get involved and support us
• Belief – that people can make a difference and that we can do something that changes the world even in a small way and belief that if you do something worthwhile people will support you and help to make it happen.

Our Charities

Cancer touches all of our lives, through a loved one – a friend, a relative. That is certainly the case in our family. Great strides towards improving the outcome of people with cancer are being made all of the time. We wanted our money to have an impact in this battle and we knew that by supporting The Christie we were doing just this. I have visited the trust on a number of occasions and it is an exceptional place – truly a worldwide centre of excellence. They have great plans to further improve the reach and capability of their services, including building satellite centers in Oldham and Salford and a new £35m patient treatment centre that will house an expanded world class chemotherapy facility, a private patients' suite and the largest early clinical trials unit in the world. The benefit of the money raised will be not just to the people of Manchester and the North West, but the whole of the UK and beyond.

I would also like to fully endorse Mike's choice of charity. A couple of years ago my niece Phoebe was born prematurely, with a serious breathing problem, and sadly lost her fight for life 4 days later. So as a family we understand the benefit of supporting units like Warrington and the difference they can make between life and death in such critical situations.

DC

Warrington Paediatric Unit

Anyone who has experienced having a sick child in hospital will know that it is a harrowing time. I have gone through this with both my children. My son Ben had a medical condition when he was first born that meant he had recurrent UTI's. I will never forget having to hold him in my hands bent double, when he was 5 weeks old, as a doctor performed a lumbar puncture to rule out meningitis. Over the next 6 months we spent 5 more weeks in hospital with him with either my wife or I in with him.
My daughter was 6 weeks old when she was admitted with what they later said was most likely a viral infection. I remember her lying in the cot with a fluid drip in her arm and leads from all sorts of devices attached to her. She looked so small and so helpless and for days she was so ill she was completely unresponsive to anything around her.
Through all of this the medical staff were amazing and that is one of the two reasons I wanted to give something back. The other was that everyday parents of young children go through the same experience and anything that helps in that situation is worthwhile in my opinion.

MW

These are very worthy causes, which is the reason why we are attempting this challenge, so please help us to support them in any way you can.