My story

Following the death of my brother Adam last year I have been driven to do something to show him how much I love him. I decided this year that I would swim the English Channel. This venture will raise money for charities relevant to Adam and to my father, who has long suffered from Dementia. These charities are Mondo Challenge Foundation (www.mondochallengefoundation.org) and for Alzheimer's Research UK (www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/).

Mondo Challenge Foundation constructs and maintains schools in the Kalimpong region of India, it is here that Adam worked at one of their schools, New Rise Academy, and enjoyed one of the best times of his life.The money will help provide new teachers, further stationary and books, and also to expand the size of these schools. Currently New Rise only educates children up to 13, however we aim to raise this to 16 and hence to give the children recognised educational qualifications equivalent to GCSE’s. The aim is to alleviate poverty in rural communities and to give the children chances that they otherwise would never have had through providing education.

Alzheimers Research UK is at the forefront of the fight against dementia. The charity specialises in finding preventions, treatments and a cure for dementia. The aim is to defeat dementia through science and innovation. To give some idea to the extent of dementia; there is a new case of dementia ever 3.2 minutes in England and Wales. Dementia affects 820,000 people in the UK. Despite these figures, dementia research is desperately underfunded. I hope to help change that.

My Solo Channel Swim will be in September it is the month we were both born in and conveniently the Channel is warmest then (around 16 degrees!). In preparation for my swim I have been training hard and have recently attended a training camp in Gozo (off Malta) where I trained with former members of the Irish swim team covering 26 miles over 14 hrs of swimming in 15 degree water. Currently I am training at Dover, where the water is only 10 degrees!

The average swimmer covers around 25 miles on a successful channel crossing and no-one can guarantee success. After I have completed a top level of training my swim could still be thwarted by bad weather conditions or hypothermia (only one in three swimmers succeeds and all train hard). Hence I can only promise that I will keep swimming either until I reach France or until my body gives way to unconsciousness or hypothermia. If the latter happens I will certainly try again and again until I succeed.

All money raised will go to both charities in equal proportions. I am personally fronting the approximately £3500 pounds that it costs to do the swim. I will send all donors a letter of thanks to let them know the outcome of my Channel attempt which will take place between the 5-10 of September depending on the tides (complete with a photo!).

Mum and I really hope to see you there and truly appreciate any support you can give.

 

My gallery 2

My Teams

My company

My charity

MondoChallenge Foundation

MondoChallenge Foundation

Charity Registration No. 1106237

MondoChallenge Foundation works at grassroots to support education and livelihoods.in Nepal, NE India (Kalimpong/Darjeeling) and in Tanzania, where we help women with HIV to set up businesses. Our partners abroad welcome volunteers to help in these projects and we run an active Ambassador scheme.

Donations 17

A wonderful family achievement

Donation by Susie Bamforth on 12/10/11

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

Donation by Helen Wilkinson on 23/09/11

£250.00

Hearty congratulations on a fantastic achievement, Jack.

Donation by jeremy brinton on 19/09/11

£25.00

+ £6.25 Gift Aid

Donation by Alastair on 19/09/11

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

Congratulations on a fantastic achievement, Jack. I hope the festival was a great success this weekend. All the best, Amy (Mondo volunteer)

Donation by Amy Pettipher on 18/09/11

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

Fantastic and inspirational swim, Jack. Adam would have been incredibly proud. Here's to success at Hemstock this weekend!

Donation by Anthony Lunch on 15/09/11

£50.00

+ £12.50 Gift Aid

Congratulations on your successful swim! Two fantastic and very worthy causes - well done.

Donation by Victoria Thorpe on 11/09/11

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

A wonderful achievement, Jack.

Donation by Ginny Rottenburg on 07/09/11

£50.00

+ £12.50 Gift Aid

Truly the most incredible effort. You have my total admiration.

Donation by Henry Palmer on 06/09/11

£50.00

+ £12.50 Gift Aid

Well done Jack!

Donation by George Pearson on 06/09/11

£200.00

Donation by Anonymous on 31/08/11

£100.00

+ £25.00 Gift Aid

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Jack, very best of luck - we enjoyed meeting you last week Diana and Julian Barran

Donation by Diana Barran on 23/08/11

£100.00

+ £25.00 Gift Aid

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Dear Jack, I am full of admiration for what you are trying to achieve. The very best of luck and I look forward to a report from J. Love, Carolyn

Donation by carolyn newbigging on 22/08/11

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Very best wishes for a calm crossing.

Donation by Stella sekers and Alan on 17/08/11

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Well done getting Just Giving set up. Hope your training is going well

Donation by john.R Perring on 15/08/11

£100.00

+ £25.00 Gift Aid

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Good luck, Jack!

Donation by Anya on 15/08/11

£100.00

+ £25.00 Gift Aid

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Jack - Good luck on this amazing challenge, hope the training's going well. With love Alex, Rob, Katie and Sophie

Donation by Alexandra Arnold on 28/06/11

£100.00

+ £25.00 Gift Aid

Donation summary

  • * Online donations£1,455.00
  • Offline donations£15,705.00
  • Text donations£0.00
  • Total raised£17,160.00
  • Gift Aid£251.25

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