AN Easterhouse-based sports charity has launched a project to lift 1,000,000lbs for charity, in order to help feed the kids of Glasgow's East end.

The Gladiator Programme will host the challenge today - live on Facebook - with 16 athletes taking part remotely in the back-breaking attempt, including four world finalists and eight British champions.

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Alex Richardson, founder and project coordinator for The Gladiator Project, said: "The Gladiator Project has been feeding around 300 kids in the East End per day since lockdown began, but we need more money and funding to keep doing it.

"We aren't just handing bags of food into homes for kids but we are cooking and serving it, to make sure that kids are definitely being fed."

The challenge, while funding for vital services, is also a way to keep Gladiator's young athletes spirits up.

"The million pound challenge came around because we had a lot of incredible, young athletes who had been preparing all over winter for championships that were now cancelled.

"We didn't want all the work and effort they had put into training to be for nothing, so this was a way of helping out the kids that need fed and giving the athletes a bit of focus and purpose again."

The group has also set up a GoFundMe page so that fans and online spectators can donate to the cause.

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"At the moment our gym and the Gladiator Fun Factory is closed, so that has been nearly £20k lost per month, and we're five weeks away from receiving funding."

While the athletes taking part, ranging from the ages of 13 to 52, are well-trained and used to winning championships, Alex says that a challenge of this size could mean that anyone could easily become injured.

"I think one of the biggest things is that this is an actual challenge, there is no guarantee that everything will go smoothly, even for trained athletes.

"1,000,000lbs is the equivalent of 141 NHS ambulances.

"If we have an injury on the day or if something goes wrong, we have to work around that and make sure that we can still reach the target.

"I truly believe that no other weightlifting club in Britain could pull this off."

To visit and donate to The Gladiator Programme's GoFundMe page, click here.