Bushey father to raise £50,000 for 50th birthday (From Watford Observer)

Bushey father to raise £50,000 for 50th birthday

4:00pm Wednesday 13th March 2013 in News By Kathryn Snowdon, Reporter

To mark his 50th birthday, a Bushey father-of-three plans to raise £50,000 for four charitable causes this year.

Adrian Cohen, of Wayside Avenue, will turn 50 on May 28 and is currently training for the Virgin London Marathon, set to take place on April 21.

He also plans to complete the Three Peaks Challenge in June and a 600km international bike ride in September.

Adrian, a past-chairman and current Bushey synagogue warden, has been inspired to undertake this year of challenges by four close friends who he has lost over the years.

The paper sales agent said: "I believe you must celebrate life and live it to the full while doing what you can to help others."

Adrian has lived with wife, Alison, and their three children, Louise, 24, Natasha, 23 and Mitchell, 19, in Bushey for 23 years.

He will be running the London Marathon in an attempt to raise £12,500 for Emunah, a charity that helps disadvantaged children and families in Israel.

The salesman, who is dubbed ‘Mr Paperman’, plans to complete the Three Peak Challenge, whereby participants climb the three largest mountains in England (Scafell Pike, 3,209 ft), Scotland (Ben Nevis, 4,409 ft) and Wales (Snowdon, 3,560 ft) in 24 hours.

Alison works for Emunah and she and Louise will be completing the challenge with Adrian in June.

Talking about Emunah, Adrian said: "I know about the good work they do with vulnerable children in Israel."

He said he will be visiting their projects in the summer and is really looking forward to it.

Adrian began training in November, running home from Hendon - about 14 miles - twice a week.

Over the past few weeks, however, he said he has not done a huge amount because he is recovering from an injury and the hardest thing is finding the time to train.

Adrian said he does a lot of walking because of his job and also plays five-a-side football and goes cycling.

This is the second time he has run the London Marathon, completing the 2008 course in six hours, three minutes and 28 seconds and raising £12,000 for Emunah.

Adrian said: "This year, I hope to do it in less than five hours - then I’m retiring!"

Other causes he hopes to raise funds for are the Lonsdale School, a special school providing education for pupils who have physical and neurological impairments, Norwood, which supports people with learning disabilities and people in need, and University College Hospital.

To sponsor Adrian in the Virgin London Marathon visit www.emunah.org.uk/donate