THE DAD of a tragic Perthshire toddler is to take up a Zumba challenge to raise money to fight the disease which killed his daughter.
Father-of-four Alan Glynn and his wife Ruth have already raised tens of thousands of pounds for the Meningitis Trust in memory of their daughter Alexis Rose.
She and her twin sister Christina had been struck down with a sickness bug in February 2011 but 19-month-old Alexis Rose died in her sleep after developing meningitis.
The pair had been born almost three months premature and at birth Alexis Rose weighed just 2lb 12oz.
Christina did not develop meningitis and is now an active three-year-old. She and older brother Billy were joined by baby sister Amber earlier this year.
Now approaching the second anniversary of the tragedy, Alan has vowed to add the exercise craze to his list of fundraising achievements.
The 32-year-old will spend several months participating in classes in Luncarty before stepping up to the plate to teach the other participants.
The challenge has been made possible by personal trainer Sarah-Jayne Hood, who has made the Alexis Rose Trust her charity of the year.
Alan said: “I’ve been doing this since five days after my daughter was buried. We have raised around £36,000 since then.
“I got in contact with Sarah-Jayne, who runs her own fitness company, and she agreed to come to some of the marathons and to give us massages afterwards. She’s also letting us use her gym to train.”
The sponsored workouts will act as a warm-up to another fundraising challenge when Alan participates in his first half-marathon, which is set to take place two days before the anniversary of Alexis Rose’s death.
“It’s all going to help get my fitness levels up for the marathons,” he said.
“It will be 12 weeks and at the end I will take the class for two routines.
“It’s a challenge and I’ve never done it before. I never thought I would do anything like Zumba.
“The money I raise will help people who have had meningitis. I’ve set a target of £100 to start off but I’ll be trying to raise as much as possible.
“I want to raise awareness and money for a charity which does so much good work.
“I can’t bring my daughter back but I hope by raising awareness it saves another life or helps makes someone’s life better.”
Following the Zumba challenge, Alan will prepare for the half-marathon.
The race, which will take place in Forfar, is just one of 100 running competitions Alan has pledged to take part in over the next eight years.
In September last year the landscape gardener-turned-full-time-fundraiser climbed eight peaks in just two days.
In just over 17 hours he trekked across the Lake District’s highest mountains as part of the English 3000 challenge.
The peaks he negotiated successfully included Skiddaw (3054 ft), Helvellyn (3117 ft), Broad Crag (3064 ft), Scafell Pike (3209 ft) and Symonds Knott (3146 ft).
The Zumba classes will take place on Monday nights from 7.15pm at Luncarty Village Hall.
ktopping@thecourier.co.uk