Genuinely, the title is not a grammatical error about pulling off an awesome longboard trick. It’s about these two chaps (Patrick Jubb and Chris Ward) and their supporters who are using their longboards to really make a difference in the world. Next time you roll down to the shop or head out to a nice smooth hill spare a thought, and maybe a few quid, for these two guys and the massive dedication to their causes they are showing.

Patrick – Big Push 2012

You know you are on to a good thing when Stephen Fry tweets about what you’re doing for charity. Starting on Friday the 13^th of July Patrick Jubb is pushing himself and his longboard from John O’Groats to Land’s End with a spring loaded pole which was created specifically for the challenge. It looks a lot like land based stand up paddle boarding but with the addition of a spring, wheels and a greater chance of cut knees when you fall. It’s simple to describe, but this 1000 mile trek is clearly going to be an incredibly tough feat to achieve. Patrick is supported by his friends Martin, Pete and Tony and a growing band of donors and supporters.

He is raising money for the Psychiatric Research Trust, a charity that supports research and investigation into all aspects of mental wellbeing including physical and mental illnesses that have a psychiatric effect. The BigPush2012 are well on their way to their target of 25k and with the interest generated from Mr. Fry, a twitter mention from the McLaren F1 team, an interview by the Observer and more they are sure to find a big spurt in their total donations in the near future.
Keep track with the team’s progress through their Twitter account, their well stocked YouTube channel and their blog. You can also keep track of their progress and donate on the BigPush2012 donations page.

Chris – The Long Push 2012

Still on a longboard but entirely propelled by his own power, Chris is going to be skating 100 miles over two days from Southport to Fleetwood and back to Southport. He’ll be pumping out this ride on a date in August or September which will be chosen nearer to the time depending on the weather forecasts. Chris is keeping a great blog on his training and there’s also some pretty great longboarding tech reviews there from the gear he is using in case anyone is interested. On his facebook page he posts very frequently on his training and also shares different links and pieces of news about Autism and the charities supporting those impacted by autistic spectrum disorders.

Chris is working and putting himself through a punishing training regime for the charity Families Connected which is a group offering support to families affected by conditions on the Autistic spectrum. Chris has personal experience of someone close to him being affected by Autism and his drive to give something back to a community that have supported him and his family is truly inspirational.
Keep up with Chris via The Long Push 2012 blog, the Twitter account, Youtube, and Facebook. Of course check out and give generously on the donations page for The Long Push 2012.

Fantastic Longboard Charity Drives

To both of these two men, and their supporters, we can only say well done. It’s heartening to see people use their passions, in this case for longboarding, do to something worthwhile for a deserving cause. We’ll be keeping track of the two causes on this blog, but we highly recommend following them both on twitter, facebook or on their own blogs to keep up with their impressive and inspiring journeys.