Tom Hodgson, who is aged 41 and lives in Walsall, is based at Willenhall ambulance hub and has worked for West Midlands Ambulance Service for almost eight years.

In December he is going to be part of a four-man crew named Square One Atlantic Team to take part in the Talisker Atlantic Challenge, one of the world’s toughest competitions that consists of over twenty teams aiming to be the first to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean.

The team, who are raising money for Rape Crisis England and Wales and Sport For Freedom charities, will embark on their 90 day challenge from La Gomera in the Canary Islands in December.

Tom said: “We have so far raised just over £7,000 towards our £10,000 target to make it into the challenge, the deadline to reach the target is the 22nd June! The hardest part of this journey is raising the funds to get us to the start line and we can only do this with your help. After that, we will need to continue fundraising in the months leading up to the race itself.

“The number of people to have rowed across the Atlantic Ocean is roughly equal to the number of people who have been into space so, if you can donate anything we’d be immensely grateful.”