With facial fuzz not an option for one St Albans man, he decided to swap the mo' for a row this November.

Instead of Movember - which involves men growing a moustache to raise money for charity - Peter Hensman has set himself a Row-vember challenge on his rowing machine.

He has been rowing 5,000m every single day throughout November and hopes to raise £5,000 by the end of the month.

Peter is fundraising to support the work of The Alzheimer Society and Alzheimer Research UK.

"Because my mo' doesn't grow well, I decided to do something more energetic to raise funds to support the work of these charities, which do great work supporting those with dementia, their families and researching new treatments.

"I was a bit worried about whether I could manage the challenge. I am not a rower, and it's more than two years since I have been on a rowing machine.

"My muscles are tired, but I'm still rowing - I row first thing each morning so I don't have time to choose not to get on the rowing machine. I am wearing gloves to row now. Getting blisters on top of blisters by the end of the first week was really sore.

"I have passed the 100,000m mark for my distance rowed so I'm hoping that I can eat a few more mince pies this year with all the extra exercise I am doing."

He explained why he has chosen those specific charities for his fundraising efforts: "Dementia is a cruel condition, but is normally thought of as something that only elderly people suffer from.

"Unfortunately, symptoms can develop as early as the age of 40. What has really surprised me is that as a result of early onset dementia, a family member has now been registered as blind.

"Though their eyes continue to work normally, messages aren't passed to the brain correctly. What is already an illness that increases isolation, becomes even more challenging and distressing."

To help Peter reach his goal go to https://www.justgiving.com/team/ROW-vember2021