From football to fencing, kabaddi to curling, Jacob Vahey will be trying it all
Jacob Vahey on his 365 Sports Challenge for suicide prevention charity CALM(Image: )
A Hull man has set himself an unusual challenge to help a mental health charity. Jacob Vahey has begun a “365 sports in 365 days” attempt in aid of CALM, the Campaign Against Living Miserably suicide prevention charity.
With his work commitments – Jacob works in research and development for Air Wick – and other responsibilities in life, it means the challenge cannot be undertaken exactly one sport, one day at a time. But Jacob is determined to have tried out 365 different sports, or variations on sports, by the time the year is up.
“I want to raise money and awareness for CALM,” Jacob said. “It’s a brilliant mental health charity that supports people when life gets overwhelming.
“It’s a cause that means a lot to me, and I want to help make sure no one has to face things alone. When I was at university I had a couple of mates I sadly lost to suicide.
“It made me realise how mental health can be overlooked. If you have an issue with your heart, you go to see a cardiologist; if you are struggling with your feelings, people can pass that off or overlook it without doing something about it.
Jacob Vahey is on a mission to try 365 sports within 365 days(Image: supplied image)
“I want to help people realise it’s okay not to be okay.” Jacob realised he would need to do some research to see what sports, or activities classed as sports, are out there, to fulfil the challenge. He said: “From football to fencing, kabaddi to curling, I’ll be trying it all – while working a full-time job and probably pulling several muscles along the way.
“Today [at the time of the interview] is my 99th day of doing the challenge and I’ve ticked off 79 sports. I’m a few days behind as I missed some days over Christmas – I had some family time.
“Doing the sports themselves is not so bad as I’m quite active but it’s more finding the different sports to try. People have been in touch with me with suggestions, which is great, and I welcome any more.
“Some sports have different variations, such as tennis, where there is singles, doubles and wheelchair, which has helped me tick off the numbers. In some places there might be two or three sports I can take part in, at the same venue, which also helps.
“I’ve had loads of different ideas, such as extreme ironing – you climb up a hill in the Lake District, for example, and take an ironing board with you and iron, that’s a sport – and there’s toe wrestling. Wife-carrying is also a sport – I don’t have a wife but maybe I can borrow one for that.”
The 365 Sports Challenge is taking Jacob to all kinds of places(Image: supplied image)
Before he officially launched into the 365 Sports Challenge, Jacob “warmed up” by cycling to all 45 of the giant sculptures on the Mischief of Rats trail that could be followed around Hull and East Yorkshire last summer. He is due to complete his sports challenge on October 1, 2026.
“It’s completely open to anyone to join me in any of these sports, they would be very welcome. It has also been so helpful having so many suggestions for what I should try.”
Jacob said: “Any follows, shares, or donations are massively appreciated.” You can follow him on Instagram @365sportschallenge and also support his efforts via Jacob’s JustGiving appeal page.