ActionCOACH raises over £17,000 for Kent Rhodes Challenge 2022

Since 2018, the network has completed numerous challenges in Kent Rhodes' name, a beloved franchisee who lost his battle against cancer

In December 2018, beloved Action Coach Kent Rhodes lost his brave fight against cancer. Kent was known and respected in the franchise community for his abundant and challenging nature, and he left a legacy beyond his incredible work as a franchise partner. To honour Kent’s life, each year the ActionCOACH UK community embarks on a challenge which reflects those traits, whilst doing as much as they can to help those less fortunate than themselves. Earlier this month, a team of amateur walkers undertook a huge three-peak 20-mile hike with a total elevation of 1,000 metres in the Peak District, Derbyshire, to remember Kent, taking the total raised so far for Children with Cancer UK to over £64,000.

“Unfortunately, there are still too many parents each day who hear the dreaded news about their child having cancer. If our efforts can help to reduce this number, then we would have done Kent proud. Kent always wanted to give his all to make a difference to his clients and his community, and the fact we can continue to be inspired by his impact in even a small way through our yearly event is the least we can do,” said Ian Christelow, co-founder of ActionCOACH UK.

Kent’s mother, Sue Rhodes, attended the event for the first time this year. After travelling all the way from South Africa, she gave a heartfelt response to the ActionCOACH community.

“It was incredible to attend the event in my darling son’s honour,” said Sue. “The fact his legacy is being kept alive four years on after his death is a testimony to the values and ethos of the ActionCOACH community. It means a great deal to me that children who are suffering from the awful disease which took Kent are going to benefit from the fundraising efforts. I’m so grateful to ActionCOACH, who was such a big part of Kent’s life. It makes me emotional to think about how incredible the support has been since he passed.”

Since 2018, the ActionCOACH community has completed numerous challenges in Kent’s name. Action Coaches Andrew Kureishy and March Eccles started the idea off with Sanjiv Dodhia driving forward this year’s campaign and Alan Smith picking up the baton for next year’s event.

Marc Eccles was coached and mentored by Kent when he joined the ActionCOACH franchise: “We want as many kids as possible to ring the bell at the end of their successful treatments. We’re aiming to raise £20,000 overall from this particular challenge – it’s for an incredible cause and with just £3k more to raise, we believe we can reach this target as a tribute to Kent’s legacy. Any support or contribution from the franchise community would be fantastic.”