Stratford firefighter Simon Oliver to raise funds for Leukemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand

Simon Oliver will complete 1000 burpees on his front lawn.

With the postponement of the 2020 Firefighter Sky Tower Stair challenge, a Stratford firefighter has found another way to raise awareness and funds for a national charity.

Simon Oliver will do 1000 burpees on his front lawns to raise money for Leukemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand (LBC). Simon has participated in the challenge three times.

In 2017, Simon raised $25,000.

"I've also completed the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb at the Sky Tower."

Simon has been a member of the Stratford Volunteer Fire Brigade for the past five years.

"Before that, I served at the New Plymouth West Volunteer Fire Brigade for two years."

He says he enjoys helping people.

"The brigade has an awesome bunch of people and it's cool to help and give back to my community."

To prepare for the challenge, Simon has been doing 100 burpees a day during the month of May.

"I'm part of a cross-fit Facebook page and they set the challenge to do 100 burpees a day. Doing 1000 burpees is going to be painful but a couple hours of pain to raise funds for a good cause is worth it."

Simon has received $4500 in donations so far.

"I'm very thankful for those who have donated. It's really humbling. I've had people tell me their stories and what I'm doing is nothing compared to what they've been through. I'm just doing what I can to help those people," he says.

Simon will be doing the burpees on Saturday, May 23 from 10am at 27a Brecon Rd. He will have a collection bucket for cash donations on the day.

■ To donate online, visit firefightersclimb.org.nz and look for Simon Oliver's page under the donate section.