CHEPSTOW man, Luke Farley, has raised hundreds of pounds for the UK Sepsis Trust by completing the London Triathlon in competition with Paul Pester, TSB CEO.

Luke has so far raised £700 in memory of his friend Josh Morgan, from Chepstow, who died suddenly at the end of 2015.

Luke was able to add to his total by taking part in Mr Pester’s #BeatTheBoss charity challenge, alongside eight TSB Partners and 23 of its Local Charity Partners.

Every year the bank’s CEO personally commits £50 to each participant with TSB, to go to a charity of their choice, plus an extra £50 if they managed to beat his time. 

Mr Pester completed the sprint distance triathlon in 1 hour 20 minutes 16 seconds, while Mr Farley finished in one hour 29 minutes and five seconds.

Luke, a business enablement analyst at TSB Bank, said: “Taking part in the London Triathlon was a real test of endurance, but a lot of fun and, of course, it’s incredibly rewarding to see how much money was raised for so many great causes.

“Thanks to everyone who sponsored me, including my CEO, Paul Pester, who invited us to take part in his #BeatTheBoss challenge.”

On his Just Giving page Luke elaborated on why he was raising money.

“I’m competing in the memory of Big Josh. For those of you who didn’t know him, he was a man of epic proportions. He had time for everyone, possessed a phenomenal sense of fun as well as being genuinely warm and caring.”

Talking about losing his friend at such a young age he said:

“I’d like to try and raise some cash for the Sepsis Trust so that they can try to help prevent this happening to other great people.

“44,000 people die of sepsis every year, more than bowel, breast and prostate cancer combined. It affects people of all ages and is the biggest cause of death in pregnancies in the UK.”

Paul Pester, CEO of TSB Bank, said: “Saturday’s (6th August) London Triathlon was the culmination of many months of work for TSB Partners and our Local Charity Partners from right across the UK.

“The atmosphere was fantastic and it was great to see so many friends and family out supporting our TSB triathletes who put in a brilliant performance – especially those who #BeatTheBoss!

“The money is still being counted, but once I’ve paid my sponsorship to our TSB triathletes we’ll have raised nearly £60,000 for 46 great causes right across Britain. This is a demonstration of ordinary people doing something extraordinary as a force of good in their local communities – and it’s a great example of what TSB is setting out to achieve through our new partnership with Pride of Sport and Pride of Britain.”

To donate to Mr Farley’s cause visit his Just Giving page http://bit.ly/2b1uD3y