Lynton student 'mucks in' for charity

DAVID Rolfe from Lynton has always been prepared to jump in with both feet in his efforts to raise money for charity – but in his latest stunt he was literally up to his neck! In the hope that where there s muck, there s brass, he spent seven hours buried

DAVID Rolfe from Lynton has always been prepared to jump in with both feet in his efforts to raise money for charity - but in his latest stunt he was literally up to his neck!

In the hope that where there's muck, there's brass, he spent seven hours buried up to his neck in a manure heap at Shelley's Stables in Chivenor to raise sponsorship for the North Devon Hospice.

As the sun rose above him and the midges gathered, David said his ordeal was not too bad.

"I have plenty of padding to lie on and at least it is dry," he said. "But the flies do get up my nose."

David, 28, is a student at Petroc in Barnstaple and during the past three years has undertaken a wide range of charity fund raising stunts as part of the Student Union's 'Mad Challenge' initiative.

Among his charity efforts he has been seen chained in the street dressed in women's lingerie, ballet dancing, seated in a bath of baked beans and as a mannikin in a shop window. He has also undertaken a number of sponsored walks along the Tarka Trail.

Now, with his course coming to an end and preparing to take up a career as a mechanic, this will be David's last year of such fund raising. He hopes to conclude with a parachute jump in August.

Anyone who would like to help David raise a stinking good sum for the North Devon Hospice is asked to pass in a donation to the hospice at Deer Park, Barnstaple, or to any of their local hospice shops and mention that it is for his charity fund.