BRADFORD Hospitals’ Charity is urging people to get behind an intrepid pair as they take on the world’s toughest row to raise money for neonatal babies and their families.

Chris Nicholl and James Tordoff, both from Bradford, start their challenge from the Canary Islands on December 12, rowing more than 3,000 nautical miles to the Caribbean as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

They will need to row an average 1.5 million oar strokes to cross the ocean, following a strict, non-stop regime of two hours of rowing and two hours of sleeping, cooking and eating, between them.

Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is one of three charities the pair have chosen to fundraise for as part of their epic journey.

Hayley Collis from the charity, said: “We are so grateful to Chris and James for choosing to raise money for their local hospital. Many of our supporters choose to run marathons, abseil and even jump out of a plane, however we can safely say nobody has ever rowed the Atlantic to raise money for our charity before!

“We are currently raising money to create more accommodation to enable parents to stay closer to their babies, so this will give our BIG Neonatal Appeal a huge boost!

“We wish Chris and James the best of luck and can’t wait to talk to them about their adventures when they return!”

Neonatal Matron Kelly Young said: “We are incredibly grateful to Chris and James for choosing our Neonatal Unit. We believe our babies and their parents deserve the very best, which is why we are dedicated to providing facilities which create a comfortable home-from-home for our families when their babies are in our care.

“All the neonatal staff are excited to track Chris and James’ journey across the Atlantic and we will be cheering them on from Bradford!”

To donate visit hohw.co.uk.