Thursday 5 March 2026: Ocean rowers Mike Bates and Gareth Timmins have
visited the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in Leeds days before setting off on a gruelling Irish Sea endurance row to raise money for research and treatment.
Bates and Timmins are part of a crew of four ocean rowers taking on the next leg of a mission to raise £57m over four years. The ROW4MND team, consisting of four highly experienced athletes, are embarking on the gruelling second leg of a challenge on Saturday [7 March]. Taking place over an expected ten-day period, the route requires them to row for 24 hours a day in cold, dark and harsh conditions across the Irish Sea.
Building on the success of last year’s challenge, which raised more than £140,000 over the summer, the March leg of the 2026 ROW4MND campaign will start at Dale in Pembrokeshire and end on the Western Isles of Scotland. The team aim to complete another leg later this year, to further funds raised for Leeds Hospitals Charity, My Name’s Doddie Foundation, and Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Mike Bates, co-founder of ROW4MND, who is based in Leeds, donated £60,000 to the build of the centre following his solo Atlantic row and was at the official opening by HRH The Prince of Wales late last year. Bates said: “Being able to see first-hand the kind of work that this challenge will support was quite emotional and humbling.
Being able to meet the team and hear exactly what they’re doing in the name of
fighting MND was just incredible. It’s an inspiring place and a wonderful legacy for Rob Burrow.
“This visit will absolutely spur me on in every dark moment over the coming weeks of the challenge. While my home in Yorkshire may be a fair distance from the sea, anybody wanting to see how we’re doing can track our journey live online over the coming weeks. If you can, please do get behind us online.”
Gareth Timmins, who is also based in Yorkshire, is joining the ROW4MND team for the first time. He’s a former Royal Marines Commando, bestselling author, behavioural and cognitive performance strategist, speaker, and researcher. Timmins is best known for his work exploring mindset, resilience, decision-making under pressure, and human performance.
Gareth Timmins, ROW4MND team member, said: “We’re prepared physically and mentally to go out there and face this challenge but there’s no denying that the weather conditions could be really against us. It’s going to be tough! Knowing we’re doing this for the charities we’re supporting is our motivation through those long, dark hours of rowing. It was amazing to come and meet the team here at the Rob Burrow Centre for MND, and I can’t wait to be part of the team helping to support such important work.”
Director of Engagement at Leeds Hospital Charity, Sarah Griffin, said: “All of us at Leeds Hospitals Charity are sending lots of luck to the ROW4MND team as they set off on their second epic rowing challenge. The money they raise will continue to support the vital work of the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease to help patients and families right here in Yorkshire. We’re incredibly grateful to the whole crew and hope the weather is kind to them over the next few weeks!”
Last year the rowers were wrongly identified as illegal migrants by MP Rupert Lowe when passing Norfolk on their 1,000-mile first challenge circumnavigating around UK waters; catapulting them into a media storm. Undeterred by this unexpected curveball, they were able to use this to propel the message to a global audience.
The rowing team this year consists of Mike Bates, Matt Parker, Aaron Kneebone and Gareth Timmins. ROW4MND is a four-year plan which will see the team take on some of the toughest ocean rows on the planet – including the North Atlantic in 2028 – in a bid to raise £57 million, a figure inspired by the shirt numbers worn by rugby legends Doddie Weir (5) and Rob Burrow (7), who both died from the disease.
The crew, made up of some of the world’s most accomplished endurance rowers, is this year joined by Gareth Timmins – a former Royal Marines Commando who is now a bestselling author, behavioural and cognitive performance strategist, speaker, and researcher.
Yorkshire-based Timmins will join the co-founders of the campaign, Mike Bates, solo Atlantic rower and former Royal Marine Commando and Matt Parker, CEO of Xypher and a purpose-led entrepreneur with a plethora of major physical challenges under his belt. Aaron Kneebone, an accredited ocean rowing coach and Royal Marine veteran, is once again joining the team.
To follow the crew’s journey and donate, visit www.row4mnd.com or find
@ROW4MND on Instagram.