The Barry Martin Foundation

21/08/2026

Busy busy week with books, bears, and back to school, and still we are smashing out the press ups!!

We are so close to our target!

Please consider making a small donation to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Family Support Trust.

Over 7000 done with 10 days to go!!!

Donate directly at https://www.justgiving.com/charity/sfrsfamilysupport

Our tracker is online at www.thebarrymartinfoundation.com if you’d like to follow our challenge progress.

16/08/2026

We’re absolutely delighted to see the launch of Barry the Brave featured in the Dunfermline Press, with a lovely two-page spread about the book, Bazza Bear, the boys and the work of The Barry Martin Foundation.

A particularly lovely one for everyone who joined us at the launch on Barry Martin Day. If you’d like a little souvenir from such a special day, you can pick up a copy of this week’s paper while it’s still available.

We’d also like to say a very sincere thank you to the Dunfermline Press for the compassion, sensitivity and respect with which they have told our story. When writing about bereavement, children and something so deeply personal to our family, that matters enormously, and we are incredibly grateful.

It’s wonderful to have the day captured in print and to see the story of Barry the Brave reaching even more people.

Thank you again to everyone who came along, supported the boys and helped make the launch what it was. ❤️

14/08/2026

Bazza Bear has been on his travels!

Bazza came along to Shetland with us, and he found himself a pretty spectacular spot overlooking the sea!

We’ve been incredibly grateful for the amount of interest in our book Barry the Brave and Bazza Bear, and we are currently receiving a very high number of enquiries and requests for our bereavement resources.

To help us manage these properly, all resource requests must be made through the Request Resources page on our website. This applies to everyone requesting resources, including families, schools, hospitals, charities and other organisations.

Please use the form here:

https://www.thebarrymartinfoundation.com/request-resources

As we are very busy, it may take us a little longer to respond and prepare resources for dispatch.

Every request will be carefully considered, and we’ll be in touch as soon as we can.

Thank you so much for your patience, support and for helping us make sure Bazza Bear and Barry the Brave reach children who need them.

12/08/2026

BARRY’S BIRTHDAY CHALLENGE 2026
8,200 PRESS-UPS

Tonight, our total stands at 3,897/ 8,200

A few days away in beautiful Shetland, our home away from home, certainly didn’t mean a few days off the challenge!

The press-ups come with us everywhere.

We’ve done them overlooking the water, on the cliffs of Sumburgh Head surrounded by puffins (windy!) on the ferry, on a helicopter pad and even squeezed them into our cabin aboard Northlink (tricep pushups!) during a very rocky crossing.

This video is Oliver, our Calisthenics legend, getting another few added to our total, with Shetland providing a pretty spectacular backdrop. In the water there were regular visits from the local seal population and spectacular shows from the vast number of sea birds diving and feeding. It’s a truly incredible place and close to our hearts.

The arms are burning, the chest is crying, and the triceps are telling us they exist, but we are almost halfway through and it’s only 12th August! Thanks to everyone who is taking part every day, and those who have dropped and done a random few to contribute. You are absolute stars!

And for anyone who has joined us more recently, here’s the reason behind 8,200.

Every August since 2024 we undertake “Barry’s Birthday Challenge”, raising money for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Family Support Trust.

It started with Barry’s 40th in 2024 which he should have been here for. We launched the £40 for 40 years campaign. In 2025, his children Oliver and Daniel led the Brave and Kind campaign, encouraging acts of kindness and compassion throughout August.

This year, Barry would have turned 42 this year so that’s 4,200 press-ups for Barry. 100 for every year.

And shortly, Shelley turns 40, so we just added another 4,000. 🤷‍♀️

4,200 + 4,000 = 8,200 press-ups throughout August.

The SFRS Family Support Trust provides invaluable support to serving and retired Scottish Fire and Rescue Service personnel and their families when they need it, and it is a charity that will always mean a great deal to our family and to Barry. It’s important we continue to value what was close to his heart and that is also why this charity is important to us.

So wherever August takes us, the press-ups are coming too.

At home. In the gym. In Shetland. On the cliffs with the puffins. On a ferry. On a helicopter pad. And, somehow, even in a very small cabin (rolling around in the North Sea). We have this insane habit of being anywhere and just dropping to the floor and performing a few.

Tonight’s total: 3,897/ 8,200

We are asking for any small donation to be made to the SFRS Family Support Trust directly and thank you so much for your support.

Happy - Press Up - Birthday to the Martins. 🎂❤️ 💪

https://www.justgiving.com/charity/sfrsfamilysupport

07/08/2026

The 8200 Challenge Update!

Throughout August, we are taking on 8,200 press-ups!

4,200 for Barry’s 42nd birthday, and 4,000 for Shelley’s 40th, raising funds for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Family Support Trust. An annual tradition!

We’re only a week into the challenge and the press-ups are already mounting up!

Our current total is: 2,247/ 8,200

Thank you so much to everyone taking part, sharing our posts and cheering us on.

Donations can be made directly to the SFRS Family Support Trust and we will keep sharing the link throughout the challenge.

And thank you to the Dunfermline Press for sharing our challenge today.

The Barry Martin Foundation are running a 8200 press up challenge this month.

07/08/2026

Thank you so much for helping to spread the word Dunfermline Press. Beautiful piece.

Daniel and Oliver have launched a book to help other children through grief.

05/08/2026

Thank you so much Cruse Scotland

04/08/2026

The 8200 Press Up Challenge | August 2026

August has become Barry’s Birthday Challenge to raise funds for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Family Support Trust, an annual tradition that honours Barry while bringing people together to make a positive difference. This is now our third year.

2024 – Barry’s 40th Birthday

To mark what would have been Barry’s 40th birthday, we launched our £40 for 40 Years Campaign, inviting people to donate £40 in his memory. The response from the public was incredible and helped us begin what has now become an annual August tradition.

2025 – The Brave and Kind Campaign

Last year, Oliver and Daniel led our Brave and Kind Campaign, encouraging acts of kindness, compassion and courage throughout August. Together, we explored how small everyday actions can make a real difference and highlighted values such as empathy, resilience and helping those in need.

2026 – The 8200 Press Up Challenge

This month marks Barry’s 42nd birthday and Shelley’s 40th birthday.

As a family, we LOVE a challenge, so we’ve combined both milestones to create the 8200 Press Up Challenge.

4,200 press ups for Barry’s 42 years.
4,000 press ups for Shelley’s 40th birthday.

Together, that’s 8,200 press ups throughout August.

Before we tell you more about the challenge, we’re also delighted to share something very special with you. The backdrop to this campaign is inspired by our real commemorative mural, created in Barry’s memory. We are grateful to the incredible artist who created it perfectly for us. It celebrates Barry’s loves, his family, his beloved Daisy dog, and the values that continue to inspire everything we do. It felt like the perfect way to launch this year’s challenge, sharing one of our most personal projects in Barry’s memory while still preserving our family’s privacy.

The challenge officially began on 1 August, fresh and frantic off the back of Barry Martin Day, and before we’ve shared it publicly, we’ve already completed 1,247 press ups. Not bad after launching a book and a bear!

We’re inviting everyone to join us.

Wall press ups, incline press ups, knee press ups or full press ups, it doesn’t matter. Every single press up counts.

Complete as many or as few as you’d like during the month. This is a group challenge, and together we’ll work towards reaching 8,200 press ups.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Family Support Trust has been close to our hearts since Barry joined the Service. He was a passionate fund raiser for the charity and we see it fit that our family continue to carry this out. The Trust provides practical, emotional and financial support to Scottish firefighters, fire service staff and their families when they need it most, and every donation stays right here in Scotland to support that work. Their support since Barry’s death has been incredible, and it gives us great comfort knowing that if another family were to go through this in Scotland, SFRS Family Support Trust are there with support.

Whether you join us by doing press ups, sharing our challenge or making a donation, thank you for being part of Barry’s legacy.

Message, email, comment, send us a photo or video and tell us if you take part. No contribution is too small.
Every press up, every share, and every donation makes a difference.

Current total: 1,247 / 8,200 press ups

Let’s see what we can achieve together.

Please sponsor us, join in, share, and donate directly at

https://www.justgiving.com/charity/sfrsfamilysupport

We look forward to sharing updates with you and raising important funds.

Thank you to all taking part!❤️

31/07/2026

Barry Martin Day 2026
A Reflection

As Barry Martin Day 2026 comes to a close, we wanted to reflect on what this remarkable day has meant to our family, our Foundation, and everyone who shared it with us. This reflection has also been added permanently to our website as part of the Foundation’s history. View at www.thebarrymartinfoundation.com

“Barry Martin Day 2026 was more than a launch, more than a commemoration, and more than a date in the calendar.

As we approached this day, we knew it would be something very different.

The hardest part was keeping Barry the Brave and Bazza Bear a secret from the world. Until the launch, we did not share them with anyone. Where it was necessary to share them during the final stages, it was under strict embargo.

​ When we first met Bazza Bear over six months ago, we knew immediately that we had got this right. He was here. He was real. He represented everything we hoped for in this journey. We fell in love with him from the very beginning. He became more than an idea; he became a character, embodying everything we wanted children to find in a companion, kindness, courage, comfort and hope.

​ Creating Barry the Brave was a long and complex journey. There were repeated trauma triggers throughout the writing process, making it essential to step away at times and allowing space to protect the wellbeing of our family. I can only say how remarkable Oliver and Daniel have been. Not once did I see them hesitate in telling this story. Instead, I saw quiet determination, resolve and integrity. They wanted to do this, and I found them utterly inspiring.

The day Barry the Brave finally arrived in our hands was an emotional one. It represented the culmination of an idea that had begun long before, a storyboard first shared with BBC Scotland in early 2025, and conversations about one day writing a book that had existed since Barry's death.

​The roots of this story go back even further. After Barry was critically injured in January 2023, Oliver and Daniel began keeping a journal for him. We knew that if Barry had regained consciousness, his recovery would be a long one, and they wanted him to know everything they had experienced while he was away. They wanted him to remain part of their lives, wherever he was, and whatever lay ahead for us as a family.

​It was through those journals that I truly began to understand the power of writing from a child's perspective. It helped our children survive. It helped them process. Today, writing continues to be a source of expression, reflection and healing for our family, and we are incredibly grateful that something born from our deepest sadness has become a tool that we hope will help many other children too.

To everyone who walked through the doors a few days ago and met the beautiful, mischievous and loving Bazza Bear, with his tartan scarf and his values of courage, and to everyone who held Barry the Brave in their hands for the very first time, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Our children are surrounded by extraordinary love and support, and on that day they truly shone. I do not think there was a single moment when I did not see them smiling. Watching them share their father's story with such confidence, professionalism, kindness and compassion, is something I will treasure for the rest of my life. ​

This is only the beginning. We have already received many requests for Barry the Brave and Bazza Bear from members of the public, community organisations and public bodies. We will respond to every enquiry, and we are deeply grateful for each one. We simply ask for your patience as we take our first steps carefully, keeping our feet firmly on the ground while ensuring these resources reach the children and families who need them most. ​

Finally, thank you.

Thank you for believing in Barry's legacy.

Thank you for believing in our boys and loving them too. ​
Thank you for believing that kindness, courage and love can continue after traumatic and complex loss.

​Oliver and Daniel set out with a simple hope when they were just eight years old, to help other children who find themselves walking a path they never chose. That hope has become a reality.

Barry may no longer be here to be able to walk beside them, but his values live on in the remarkable young gentlemen they are becoming. He is most definitely still parenting these endearing, talented and dignified children.

For that, and for the privilege of being their mum, I will be forever grateful. ​

To my husband, you are the absolute love of my life. I cannot believe the honour and the gratitude I carry every day being your wife. If I can do you proud, then my life is a good and blessed one. Thank you for our children, and thank you for our life and love. ​ With every day that passes, I know we are still writing that story through Oliver and Daniel, through Barry the Brave and Bazza Bear, and through every family we are able to help.

Your legacy is not behind us.
It walks beside us.

With love and thanks to all, ​

— Shelley Martin”

View the full Barry Martin Day 2026 gallery at www.thebarrymartinfoundation.com