Simon Matthews, managing director of asset manager, AMG has completed a four day canoeing trip covering 110 miles as part of a team raising money for the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice in Hampton, Middlesex.

The Shooting Star Children’s Hospice provides care, support and advice for children and young people with life-limiting conditions and their families. These care services are offered free of charge to families, 365 days a year across the western half of London and north Surrey.

Matthews was part of a 16 strong team made up of colleagues and friends from the financial services and property industry who jointly rose in excess on £20,000 during this one event. The sponsored, four-day paddle started at Devizes in Wiltshire with eight teams of two in Canadian-style open canoes, plus a support vehicle. The team then paddled for up to 33 miles a day, along the Kennet Avon Canal and then on to The Thames, with overnight stops at Kintbury in Berkshire, Henley on Thames and Datchett in Berkshire. The exhausted team reached the finishing line in Richmond some four days later.

Matthews said: “This was a terrific team effort for a wonderful cause. I’m not sure that I’ve ever been so tired in my life and at certain times I think that we all wondered if we would make it. However a combination of determination and humour (I know it’s wrong to laugh when a fellow team members falls in the Thames but we just couldn’t help it) helped us all finish the course. Great credit must go to my good friend and event organiser