A team of ocean rowers has this weekend (Saturday 7 March) set off on the next leg of an endurance mission to raise £57m over four years for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) research and treatment.
The ROW4MND team, consisting of four highly experienced athletes, are embarking on the gruelling second leg of a challenge. Taking place over an expected ten-day period, the route requires them to row for 24 hours a day in cold, dark and harsh conditions across the Irish Sea, towards Scotland.
Building on the success of last year’s challenge, which raised more than £140,000 over the summer, the March leg of the 2026 ROW4MND campaign will start at Dale in Pembrokeshire and end in the Western Isles of Scotland. The team aim to complete another leg later this year, to further funds raised for My Name’s Doddie Foundation, Motor Neurone Disease Association and Leeds Hospitals Charity.
Last year the rowers were wrongly identified as ‘illegal migrants’ by MP Rupert Lowe when passing Norfolk on their 1,000-mile first challenge circumnavigating around UK waters; catapulting them into one of the news events of 2025 Undeterred by this unexpected curveball, they were able to use this to propel the message of the challenge further, which included a £1,000 donation from Lowe himself.
The rowing team this year consists of Mike Bates, Matt Parker, Aaron Kneebone and Gareth Timmins. ROW4MND is a four-year plan which will see the team take on some of the toughest ocean rows on the planet – including the North Atlantic in 2028 – in a bid to raise £57 million, a figure inspired by the shirt numbers worn by rugby legends Doddie Weir (5) and Rob Burrow (7), who both died from the disease.
The crew, which includes some of the world’s most accomplished endurance rowers, is this year joined by Gareth Timmins – a former Royal Marines Commando who is now a bestselling author, behavioural and cognitive performance strategist, speaker, and researcher.
Timmins will join the co-founders of the campaign, Mike Bates, solo Atlantic rower and former Royal Marine Commando and Matt Parker, CEO of cyber security business Xypher and a purpose-led entrepreneur with a plethora of major physical challenges under his belt. Aaron Kneebone, an accredited ocean rowing coach and Royal Marine veteran, is once again joining the team.
Matt Parker, co-founder of ROW4MND, added: “When people go out of their way to sacrifice and suffer in the name of such an incredible cause we hope it gives people hope of change in the future. We can’t lose sight of the fact that this is an endurance mission that will be a short-term pain for us. We’re determined to do all we can to raise the £57m for MND research and treatment by 2028 and are grateful support for every row of the way.”
Mike Bates, co-founder of ROW4MND, said: “We are even more resolute in our ambition to raise vital funds for MND research and treatment this year and the challenge ahead will be harder because at this time of year it will be colder, wetter and darker.
“What we will have in our minds is the fact that one in 300 people are impacted by MND. That’s a hard reality to face and it means that everybody in the UK is close to somebody who is impacted by this cruel disease. These challenges are tough, but we haven’t felt the pain that those diagnosed with MND and their families feel every day. ROW4MND is rooted in changing the future of MND treatment.”
