100 push-ups a day for East Anglian Air Ambulance fundraiser

Ian Pulford, who works in property management in Ipswich, decided to take on a fundraising effort he saw on Facebook that required completing 3,000 push-ups through the month of April.

A self-described "slightly overweight" man, he said he decided to take it on in sets of 40 at a time, although he needed to do multiple sets in one day to hit the pledge.

Ian Pulford said the charity is one that's close to his heart after it helped a friend of his a few years ago (Image: Ian Pulford)

Starting with 200 on day one was ambitious, but he averaged more than 110 per day for the rest of the month.

He added: "You'd think it'd get easier over all this time, but it doesn't. It's been just as hard as at the beginning of the month.

"There have certainly been times when I felt like not doing them."

But the cause, East Anglian Air Ambulance, and its connection to Mr Pulford was more than enough encouragement to keep going - above and beyond the requirement, with 3,400 push-ups completed by April 30.

Speaking about his motivation, Ian said: "It's a very good cause, the air ambulance saved the life of a friend of mine a few years ago and the husband of another friend has flown with them as a doctor.

"I've had a lot of encouragement from people, which has been really nice.

"Landlords we work with have been very kind and donated.

"Charity brings out the best in people and I think because a lot of charities do get money from government, but the air ambulance doesn't get any regular money and it needs to be funded all the time to keep on going and keep saving lives."

So far, Mr Pulford has raised about £1,400, slightly shy of the goal set at the beginning of the month of £2,000.

He said reaching that goal would "mean a lot" and didn't rule out a future return to fundraising for the cause close to his heart.

"Maybe in the future," he said. "I'll think I'll recover from this first."