Marking a decade of challenges in memory of a special friend
A strongman from Lincoln is preparing for his latest charity challenge and is adding a competition element to get others involved.
Dave Johnson will once again be doing the challenge in memory of his close friend Mark Browne, who passed away in 2012 after a battle with cancer. He has completed over 20 charity challenges since the first one in 2011.
Although this year’s charities are still being finalised, Dave has already set the wheels in motion for several competitive strength challenges at Flying Hire’s compound in North Scarle on July 10, 2021.
This year he is opening it up for other people to enter and take part. The entry fee is £25 with all proceeds going to charity.
See more information here and a payment link will be added to the group in the near future.
The event will include 15-tonne and 23-tonne truck pulls, which will incorporate a time trial competition.
There will also be a 40-tonne challenge with Flying Hire’s equipment loaded onto the 23-tonne lorry for Dave and others to try and pull.
Simon Knowles, Mark Anglesea, Ashton Reid, Dave Thornton and Dave Johnson all took part in a charity challenge Flying Hire’s compound in North Scarle.
Dave told The Lincolnite: “A lot of people through the years have said they wanted to try it and I also wanted to vary the challenges, so I am making it a competition so others can have a go and experience a strongman event.
“Originally I said to Mark that out of respect for him I would do the challenges for as long as I could in his memory and raise money for cancer on his behalf.
“Every year I have done it in his memory and the fact we can help charities is always a bonus.
“I’ve never pulled anything around the 40-tonne mark, so that will be interesting. This event will be new to a lot of people and I’m looking forward to it, but no doubt I will be nervous on the day.”
Strongmen Andy Bainbridge, Justin Beedham and Dave Johnson each carried a 150kg yoke four miles at a disused car park in Lincoln.
Dave’s most recent challenge in December 2020 saw him, along with three other strongmen, carry a 150kg yoke four miles each at a disused car park, formerly of Better Gym, on Tritton Road in Lincoln. Dave said this was the equivalent to a carrying a 24 stone person.
Over £300 was raised for the Salvation Army and the Bearded Fishermen Charity.
Dave pulling a truck as part of one of his many charity challenges.
Strongmen Dave Johnson, Mark Stocks (owner of Stocky’s Gym in Gainsborough), Ashton Reid, Simon Knowles, Dave Thornton and Mark Anglesea.
Back in June 2018 Dave was also named as The Lincolnite of the week.
Dave’s previous charity challenges have included pulling trucks dressed as Santa, dragging a 53-seater coach and deadlifting an Audi A4.
A dramatic video shows a car engulfed in flames in the car park at Lincoln County Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
An on-call crew from Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue attended the scene on Greetwell Road shortly before 5pm on Tuesday, April 13.
The crew used one hose reel to extinguish the fire and fortunately no casualties were reported.
The car is probably a write-off. | Photo: The Lincolnite
Dramatic pictures from the scene show the severe damage that was caused to the front of the car.
Fall in county infections but a Boston spike
There have been 50 new coronavirus cases and three COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Tuesday — compared to 58 cases and no deaths this time last week.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 26 new cases in Lincolnshire, 19 in North Lincolnshire and five in North East Lincolnshire.
On Tuesday, three deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, none in North East Lincolnshire and -1 in North Lincolnshire. Fluctuations in data are usually due to some deaths in those areas being reallocated to other regions across the UK or a miscount. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England has reported two new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust hospitals.
On Tuesday, national cases increased by 2,472 to 4,375,814, while deaths rose by 23 to 127,123.
In local news, people aged over 45 can now book their COVID vaccinations on the NHS website after the government reached its target of offering a first dose to the nine most vulnerable groups.
There were recently some technical difficulties for people accessing the NHS website, but vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said the issues have been fixed – book a vaccine online here and find out if you are eligible.
Over the weekend, Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate has fallen, with a spike in Boston only.
Similarly, the England average has also seen a drop in infections, but still remains nearly half Greater Lincolnshire’s rates.
Lincoln has dropped by more than half over the weekend and now has one of the smallest rates in the UK, with just 9.1 per 100,000 of the population infected with COVID-19.
Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s COVID-19 infection rates up to April 12:
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Apr 5 to Apr 12. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
In national news, Boris Johnson has warned that the reduction in coronavirus infections, hospitalisations and deaths “has not been achieved” by the rollout of COVID vaccines.
The prime minister, speaking the day after the latest easing of lockdown restrictions, instead said it was the national shutdown that had been “overwhelmingly important” in driving down COVID rates.
England is giving out its first doses of the Moderna jab, the third COVID-19 vaccine in the nation’s rollout.
It will be available at 21 sites, included the Madejski Stadium in Reading and the Sheffield Arena.
Along with the Pfizer jab, it offers an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for under-30s, after concerns about a possible link to very rare blood clots.
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
58,772 cases (up 50)
2,184 deaths (up three)
of which 1,302 hospital deaths (up two)
4,375,814 UK cases, 127,123 deaths
There will be another Kill The Bill protest in Lincoln next week, rallying against a new government bill that diminishes protesting rights.
Protests have been rife across the country since the government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was first discussed, with scenes turning violent in Bristol.
Over two hundred people peacefully took part in the city’s first march at Speakers’ Corner on April 3, including Extinction Rebellion activists and Socialist and Labour supporters.
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Now, after a post started doing the rounds on social media, another protest has apparently been scheduled for 2pm on Monday, April 17 at the same location on Lincoln High Street, as part of a national day of action.
A poster promoting a second event has been shared across social media platforms.
Protests are lawful once again after the government eased lockdown restrictions on March 29, but organisers are required to submit a risk assessment prior to any event.
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Organisers of the last protest were in close communication with police to make the event safe, and The Lincolnite has asked Lincolnshire Police if they have been made aware of another protest, but are yet to receive a reply.
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