Tri4Japan, the registered charity established by Mike and Rieko Trees to help the people of Kamaishi, will launch a major Charity auction on eBay starting from 19:00 BST on Sunday 31 July. Here Mike and Rieko tell us about some of the items.

Items have been donated by many leading triathlon brands, World Champions, Olympic Champions and elite athletes. Some items in the auction include:

• Three collections of Olympic memorabilia from Speedo including a swimskin signed by 2008 Olympic Athletes including Michael Phelps, (eight times Gold Olympic Medallist Beijing) Rebecca Adlington, (Double Olympic Gold medallist, Beijing) Steph Rice, (three times Gold medallist, Beijing) Bronte Barratt (Olympic Gold medallist) and Liam Tancock (double commonwealth Games gold medallist.)
• pair of Adidas Supernova Sequence shoes signed by Alistair Brownlee
• A pair of Brooks T7 race shoes signed by Chrissie Wellington as well as Chrissie’s own TYR tankini signed by Chrissie
• Signed wetsuit used by actor Robson Green in his Wild Swimming Adventure ITV series
• Two pairs of Newton Running shoes & a visor signed by Zola Pieterse (née Zola Budd)
• Two entries to Ironman Wales in September
• Two Ceepo high modulus carbon bike frames
• A year’s supply of GU Energy Gels (365 mixed flavour gels)
• Over 20 new triathlon wetsuits from leading brands including 2XU, Orca, blueseventy and Zone Three
• Two-time Ironman World Champion Craig Alexander special edition replica race kits

Please have a look at the auction items at: www.tri4japan.com/auction/ and bid on Sunday for some great items.

TCL Sports are proud to be a corporate supporter of the charity Tri4Japan.

Tri4japan is the charity established to help the people of Kamaishi, a town in Japan devastated by the recent earthquake and tsunami. All funds raised will be put to work to make a real difference to people’s lives in projects personally selected by former professional triathlete Mike Trees.

Mike (who raced for many years at the Kamaishi International Triathlon) founded Tri4Japan with his Japanese wife Rieko to ease the suffering of the people of Kamaishi.

TCL Sports have purchased 2,000 t-shirts and will be paying for shipping on all UK based orders, meaning that 100% of the £10 cost goes to the Tri4Japan disaster fund. You can purchase a t-shirt now from the www.tri4japan.com website.

We encourage everybody to give what they can to this worthwhile cause and to follow Tri4Japan on Facebook.

On Sunday 2nd October 2011 a team of runners from Wellingborough & District Athletics Club will run the Loch Ness Marathon to raise much needed funds for the Lakelands Day Care Hospice in Northamptonshire, an organisation set up to care for patients with life limiting illnesses such as cancer and heart failure and their families.

The team represent a real cross section of running experience from seasoned marathon runners to those that are attempting marathon distance for the first time as is often the case in running clubs up and down the country.

TCL Sports leading distribution brands were a perfect match for the group who recognised how 2XU Compression would help endurance performance as well as aid recovery and how nutrition such as GU Energy Gels were a critical factor in maintaining energy on long training runs as well as during the marathon itself.

Mike Trees, managing director of TCL Sports said “from personal experience I can appreciate the commitment required for marathon running and what the team will go through over the next few months preparing for the race. To do that and raise thousands of pounds for a very worthy cause is a great thing to do. We wish them the best of luck with both their training and fundraising”.

TCL Sports support the Run Loch Ness team with 2XU Compression and Running and GU Energy Gels.

Follow the team’s training progress, find out about their fundraising activities or make a donation online at: www.runlochness.org

The TCL Sports staff got 2011 off to a good start as they proudly participated in the 26th annual Swimarathon in Maidenhead on Saturday 8th January.

The event, organised by the Lions Club of Maidenhead, attracted nearly 800 swimmers this year and TCL Sports entered two teams who swam 10km in just under 1 hour. This is a charity race that 8 people take turn every 50m and swim for 55 minutes!

TCL Sports donated £100 to Lions Club of Maidenhead and would like to say a big thank you to John and Lawrence for participating at last minute to substitute our team members taken ill.

Congratulations to the Seb4CHUF team who set themselves the gruelling and arduous task of running 145 miles in 5 days! Five runners took part in this charity run, definitely turning the boys into men, including former GMTV presenter Ben Shephard.

Seb4CHUF is a children’s charity formed by parents of Sebastian who was born with a congenital heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot and received life-saving treatment from the Freeman Hospital. CHUF stands for ‘Children’s Heart Unit Fund’.

Ivan said “Now that we’ve all had about 10 days rest since we finished, I think most of us have forgotten quite how much pain we went through on route from Whitehaven to Tynemouth. Luckily the over-riding memories that remain are the fantastic experiences we shared, the stunning scenery and most importantly how much money has been raised for 2 really amazing charities”.

The team’s fundraising was nothing short of heroic with the run itself raising around £30,000 and a charity ball the night after the final day of the Run taking the total close to £50,000!

TCL Sports were pleased to be able to assist the team by providing 2XU Compression tights to keep them going and help their recovery. Ivan commented “I don’t think any of us fully appreciated how important having specific kit would be (that was until we’d run just over 30 miles on Day 1)! Thank you so much for supporting us and providing us with the 2XU kit for our Run”.

For further information on the run and other activities the charity are organising and how you can help, visit their website at: www.seb4chuf.org.uk