A PERSONAL trainer from Cwmbran is aiming to push a car 10km to raise money for Ty Hafan.

Shane O’Neill, 32, set himself the challenge after speaking to one of his clients who was training for a marathon.

“It’s been on my mind for a long time. I’m a personal trainer by trade, and have been looking for a new challenge to test myself," he said.

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“I was talking to a client who was training for a marathon, and said I’d rather push a car 10km than run a marathon.

“I don’t like running and it doesn't like me.

“After I said it, I decided that would be my challenge.

“The training has been straight forward, but actually organising the car push has been quite hard.

“You need to have access to a car, someone to sit in the car, and somewhere you can safely push the car.

“With running you can just go outside and go for a run to train, but with this, it’s a bit more difficult.

“I’ve been doing resistance training – loading weights on a sledge and pushing that around.

“I assigned one Sunday to push a car around a car park as far as I could in an hour, and last month I did a five kilometre car push to find out what stage I was at. That took an hour and a half.”

Mr O’Neill will be completing his challenge on Saturday, February 29, although a location is still to be finalised.

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Personal trainer Shane O'Neill training for his 10km car push to raise money for Ty Hafan. Picture: Shane O'Neill

He will be raising money for children’s charity Ty Hafan by taking on this challenge.

“I couldn’t think of any better cause to raise money for,” he said. “Looking at the work they do, and the support they offer - not only for kids but also their families, it's incredible.

"I run Cwmbran Bootcamp with Jed Davies, and we have raised money for them before.

“What they do and the help and support they provide is second to none.”

As well as raising money for a good cause, Mr O’Neill hopes he can inspire people to make a healthy change to their lives.

“I personally feel that movement is the best kind of medicine,” he said. “If I can push a car for 10km, then maybe people can swap one car journey they make for walking or cycling.

"Hopefully it can encourage people to reduce emissions, help the environment and help themselves too.”

For more information about Mr O’Neill’s challenge, or if you would like to donate to Ty Hafan, visit gofundme.com/f/10k-car-push