Brother and sister alumni duo take on multi-day triathlon across the British Isles to raise money for mental health support for farmers
Hugh Addison (MEng Mechanical Engineering, 2014) and Alex Addison (LLB Law, 2017) are hoping to raise £10,000 for the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institute (RABI) through their extreme endurance challenge this September.
22 May 2025
Later this year, Newcastle graduates Hugh and Alex Addison will be cycling over 400km across Northern Ireland and Scotland, swimming the Irish Sea and running the length of Hadrian’s Wall in just four days to raise vital funds and awareness of the mental health struggles faced by farming communities.
The pair will be taking on The Borderline Challenge in September 2025 in support of The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI), farming’s oldest charity working across England and Wales. The charity provides tailored advice, access to counselling, practical and financial support and more, and Hugh and Alex have a fundraising target of £10,000 to ensure farming communities continue to have access to mental health support during this particularly challenging time in agriculture.
We recently caught up with Hugh and Alex to hear more about their motivations for supporting RABI, how training for such an epic challenge is going, and to reminisce on their time on campus.
Hi both, what a challenge you’ve set for yourselves! Can you tell us the inspiration behind The Borderline Challenge?
Hugh: We grew up on a dairy farm in Penrith, Cumbria, within a tight-knit agricultural community, so we know first-hand how hard the farming life is on you – both physically and mentally!
Farming is a tough profession, especially now, with the turbulent political landscape, the challenging economic climate and the weather climate too. Farmers carry a heavy burden on their shoulders and yet they’re renowned for their stoicism and resilience. There’s a big challenge in opening up and sharing within this community and starting the necessary conversations around mental health.
That’s why we want to support RABI: they provide a phone line with counsellors for farmers who are struggling, and grants when times are particularly tough financially for farming families.
Alex: We’ve seen with our Dad and our uncles how protecting their mental health doesn’t really come up on their radar. They’re always ‘fine’! But since we started planning this challenge and talked to them more, they’ve started considering the impact of their job on their mental health and fostering good practices.
Did either of you ever consider following in your Dad’s footsteps to become farmers?
Hugh: The average age of a farmer in the UK is 62, so there’s a real problem with encouraging younger generations into the community. Our Dad is 62 now and is still up at 5:30am every morning milking the cows, only taking every other weekend off. It makes you realise how cushty we have it in our own jobs!
It’s literally a full-time job, you could be called out to perform a caesarean on a cow at 2am and then back up at 6am to do the day-to-day stuff that needs to be done for the farm to run. Dad has had staffing issues over the past few years and during the pandemic it was really tough.
We’re currently thinking about succession of the farm as none of us (Hugh, Alex and their brother, Will) are directly involved with the farm currently. After the pandemic, I moved back home from Cambridge to help out, but it was too unsustainable juggling the farm with still working part-time. I was lucky that my Dad could step back up so I could step back – some farmers don’t have that, and that’s where the mental health struggles can come from.
Farmers carry a heavy burden on their shoulders and yet they’re renowned for their stoicism and resilience. There’s a big challenge in opening up and sharing within this community and starting the necessary conversations around mental health.
It's a really important cause you’re championing with The Borderline Challenge. What will the 4-day event actually look like?
Alex: It’s essentially an ultra-triathlon across the British Isles, connecting places that have a special meaning to our family.
We start off in Northern Ireland, cycling 225km through various towns, including Enniskillen where our Mum grew up and where we would spend summers as kids. Then we’ll be swimming 35km over the Irish Sea to get to Scotland, hopping on our bikes for another 175km to get to Gretna, and running 115km down to Cumbria where our Dad’s family is from to follow Hadrian’s Wall all the way through to Tynemouth. And on day 5, we sleep!
Wow! Your challenge ends in Tynemouth, chosen by you both because of your special memories of Newcastle. What brought you to Newcastle University initially?
Hugh: There’s a family history with Newcastle University. Our grandad, Steele Addison, studied Agriculture at what was then King’s College in the 1950s after finishing his National Service, and completed his thesis on forestry in Kielder.
Growing up in Cumbria, Newcastle was somewhere we visited often. I’ve always supported NUFC and my first gig was at the o2 Academy to see Pendulum, so I’ve always associated the city with being a fun place to be!
I attended the PARTNERS summer school before joining the School of Engineering to complete my MEng in Mechanical Engineering, including a year in industry where I was working in Barnard Castle. In total, I had 5 very happy years in Newcastle.
Alex: I have to admit it was mainly hearing about Hugh’s experience that drew me to Newcastle University too. I was close with him and his friends, and they’d tell me about all the fun they’d have living in Jesmond and I wanted that too!
I was also really into hockey growing up, playing at a regional level, and so I already had met some of the coaches from the University team. I wanted to continue playing under their guidance, so that was another big draw.
Can you share some of your favourite memories of your student days with us?
Alex: We both spent our first year at Castle Leazes, and walking past the cows or seeing them from my window each morning definitely helped cure the homesickness!
I was studying Law during the Brexit referendum and so it was fascinating hearing from experts like Colin Murray as the legal landscape was changing. That insider insight was incredible.
I just loved everything about Newcastle – the social community in Jesmond in particular. We’re actually returning to Newcastle for a hen do later this year. Plans are still being ironed out, but we’ll be revisiting some of our favourite old haunts (including Flares!)
Hugh: The North East beaches are some of the best in the world, and that’s one of the reasons why we chose to end the challenge in Tynemouth. I miss being a student and being able to just hop in the car on a beautiful sunny day to enjoy the completely uninhabited beaches that just stretch on and on. I don't know anywhere in the world that's quite like that.
There was also the fun of the Metro Line Challenge, hopping off at Tynemouth and making our way back into town via various drinking holes!
The variety in the Mechanical Engineering course was really interesting too, and I quickly found my passion in bioengineering with the guidance of Professor Tom Joyce. It’s a part of engineering that you can visibly see helping people, and so that’s what I’ve continued to do in my career since graduating.
You were both into sports at university, which makes sense with your upcoming challenge! Can you tell us more about your involvement in sports at Newcastle?
Alex: As I’ve mentioned, hockey was a big reason why I applied to Newcastle University. I arrived for pre-season before officially becoming a student and played for the University first team for three years, including being president of the Hockey Club in my final year. The training regime really instilled a focus and dedication that is definitely going to be helpful in preparing for this challenge! And how can I not mention the Wednesday nights out?!
Hugh: I was much more comfortable playing at intramural level! I was part of the Ski and Snowboard Club (NUSSC) and raced in my first couple of years as a student and also played rugby for both the Agrics and Medics at various points in my degree. I have very fond memories of Heaton’s Medicals Sports Ground from my time playing there.
We start off in Northern Ireland, cycling 225km cross-country. Then we'll swim 35km over the Irish Sea to get to Scotland, hopping on our bikes for another 175km to get to Gretna, and running 115km along Hadrian’s Wall all the way to Tynemouth!
How is training going for the challenge?
Alex: We both like to push ourselves to the limits and have done sporting challenges before, but not to this level. When Hugh floated the idea, I immediately said yes, but in hindsight I probably should have thought about it more!
At the minute, I’m just trying to get as much exercise in alongside work as possible. It means a lot of early mornings and gym sessions, so we don’t completely ruin our hips and knees for life! We’re lucky there are lots of hills near the family home, and the lakes on our doorstep, so it’s a beautiful setting for training.
We’re also working with a nutritionist to make sure we’re fuelling our bodies correctly. I thought as long as I was eating loads it would be fine, but if I had my way that would just be Greggs sausage rolls!
Hugh: My first ever taste of an endurance challenge was cycling home to Penrith when my studies finished at Newcastle. Since then, I’ve got into triathlons and done a 70.3 Ironman with friends from university, some of whom are joining us on this challenge.
Later this month, I’m taking part in the Edinburgh Marathon as preparation, and Alex is also doing the Great North Swim in June.
I’ve been on my bike a lot to get the miles in and recently cycled from my home in Bristol to visit a friend on outskirts of London and back – 110 miles each way. My knees were killing!
Good luck for your final few months of training! Thanks for speaking with us.
How you can support The Borderline Challenge
Hugh and Alex embark on their epic challenge on 13 September, where they will be covering 550km from Sligo to Tynemouth in just 4 days.
They are aiming to raise £10,000 for the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI), to provide vital mental health provision to rural communities. RABI studies show that around a third of farmers are considered "probably or possibly depressed" and nearly half of farmers surveyed by RABI reported experiencing some form of anxiety.
Find out more about The Borderline Challenge on their website and help Hugh and Alex reach their fundraising target by donating on Justgiving.
