Leeds United captain Ethan Ampadu was present at Elland Road recently to set his former coaches, Exeter City's Mickey Turner and David Oldfield, off on their 24-hour challenge for mental health.

The Welsh international credits his Academy Coach Mentor for having a big influence on his career, and he was delighted to meet him and wish him luck ahead of his gruelling challenge, along with the Academy Under-18s Head Coach for Exeter City. The duo departed Elland Road on Friday morning, set to navigate the Leeds-Liverpool Ship Canal via canoe all the way to Anfield Stadium, to raise awareness for a vital message: physical and mental health are inseparable.

David and Mickey took on the mission to promote physical and mental wellbeing while raising vital funds for three incredible organisations: The Royal Marines Charity, The Not Forgotten Association, and Exeter City FC Academy, where Ampadu graduated to make his first steps into professional football.

Part of the challenge was to promote and seek support for an app that Mickey is working on, the ICE (In Case of Emergency) app. This platform is designed to protect the wellbeing of young sportspeople and their families by providing users with a 'Guardian Angel' network of friends and family to make sure people are mentally and physically supported in high-pressure elite sport.

After sending the duo on their way, Ampadu said: "David and Mickey are raising awareness for a hugely important message and it was great for me to be able to be a part of the challenge in some way and offer my support.

"The organisations that the challenge is supporting are fantastic, and with wellbeing in sports and in life being so important hopefully we can start providing more support for people who might be struggling. I wish David and Mickey the best of luck on their challenge."

To learn more about David and Mickey's challenge, please click here. To donate, click here.