A little while ago I was approached by a charity and asked if I would be interested in helping to raise awareness of a campaign they were to run.
This was something a little fun and certainly out of my norm but I knew I would love to get involved.
That charity was Aspire and they wanted to team up with 10 bloggers who together would form a swimming relay team to swim the English Channel – well the equivalent of the channel in our own local pools.
Now of course swimming 22 miles would be absolutely impossible for me and probably many of the rest of the team but because it is to be completed in a relay we will actually only have to swim 2.4 miles each!
2.4 miles for me is a LOT, its 160 lengths of my local pool but thankfully I have a few weeks to complete this.
My leg of the relay is set to take place between the 9th October and 6th November.
I’m not the strongest swimmer by all means BUT I will complete this even if it means visiting the pool every other day for a few weeks.
Why am I doing this and who are Aspire?
Aspire are a national charity who raise money for those affected by Spinal Cord Injuries.
Every 8 hours, someone is paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury and currently there is no cure. Aspire provide help and support to those affected as well as their families.
Individuals affected will lose muscle and sensory control and the vast majority become full time wheelchair users for the rest of their lives. Historically, the majority of spinal cord injuries have been sustained by those aged 21 to 30, with nearly three quarters of newly injured people being male, although increasingly it is affecting older people too.
Through its projects and programmes, Aspire offers practical support to the 40,000 people living with a spinal cord injury in the UK so that they can lead fulfilled and independent lives in their homes, with their families, in work places and in leisure time.
I’m helping to raise awareness because I can. While I know no-one to have yet suffered from spinal cord injuries I easily could do in the future. Accidents happen, no-one plans for them but I can hep to raise the much needed funds to help.
Emmy will also be joining me for my part of the challenge, now at 7 years of age and a level 4 in her swimming lessons, she’ll not be able to complete all 160 lengths but she wants to try to do as many as she can. She has started already and has racked up 17 lengths already!
Who can join in?
Anyone can join in with this challenge.
It runs from the 11th September 2017 until the 4th December – so you can still sign up to fundraise and swim your own English Channel challenge OR you could get together with friends and form your own relay team to complete it faster. Currently 5320 people have signed up for the swim challenge.
Alternatively, you could sponsor our bloggers relay team and cheer us on from the sidelines!
Take a look at our bloggers relay team page – the other swimmers are:
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This is a great idea and a great way to help others. Thanks for sharing this wonderful article.
What a great thing to be part of! Wishing you the best of luck x
I love a swimathon – we have taken part in a few over the years but the relays are always the most fun. Great that your little one can take part too. Best of luck to you!
Wow what a great way to raise money for charity and raise awareness, good luck and I hope you all do really well x