48-hour drumathon to help beat cancer

A musician from Kendal has been drumming for two days straight.

John Powney wanted to give something back to Cancer Care, a local charity that helped him through testicular cancer, so he's been on a 48-hour drumathon.

He's been drumming since 5pm on Tuesday and finishes tonight at 5pm.

How the challenge works:

• He can eat and drink one-handed while still drumming

• During song breaks the musicians can talk but there'll still be a beat in the background

• He's allowed 5 minutes toilet breaks every hour but he's going to use that as little as possible and drum along the wall if he needs to

• He's joined by bands at peak times

Bootleggers Bar in Kendal has had to stay open the whole time. John has called in lots of favours to be joined by bands at peak times but he's been drumming with less gusto during the night.

John's tricks:

• Eating little and often so the body doesn't have to work to metabolise food

• Low energy drumming through the night and when other musicians aren't joining him

• No sugar or caffeine as these can cause dips when the body crashes

For more information and how to sponsor John for his drumming efforts visit the Cancer Care website.