Story
<p>Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.</p>
<p>This year, I've taken part in two big events to support Help for Heroes, a 24 hour swimming challenge and an English Channel relay team swim.</p>
<p>The first was 2 Swim 4 Life, a 24 hour event which took place at an outdoor pool, Guildford Lido. The challenge was to swim a mile, on the hour, every hour, for 24 hours, from 9am on Saturday 30th April to 9am on Sunday 1st May. Sadly, a recent injury took its toll and I had to retire at 2.10am on the Sunday, after 17 miles.</p>
<p>The second event, the Channel relay, took place on Saturday 6th August. The six members of my team, Over From Dover, had a combined age of 314 years. The qualifier for this was a two hour swim in 16C or less, non wetsuit.</p>
<p>Starting at 2.27am, each team member swam an hour long shift before handing over to the next swimmer. Conditions weren't what the forecast promised as night turned to day and we were swimming through bleak, grey and often rainy weather, in a bumpy sea. After 13 successful handovers, our final swimmer, Jim, landed on Wissant Beach, on Saturday afternoon, after 13 hours 52 minutes. It was a great team effort, enjoyed by all.</p>
<p>All of this may be challenging, but it's nothing in comparison to what is faced by our heroic armed forces. From their own website.....</p>
<p>"It’s about the 'blokes', our men and women of the Armed Forces. It’s about <a title="Read Derek's Story" href="http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/wounded-hero-derek-derenalagi.html">Derek</a>, a rugby player who has lost both his legs, it’s about Carl whose jaw is wired up so he has been drinking through a straw. It’s about Richard who was handed a mobile phone as he lay on the stretcher so he could say goodbye to his wife. It’s about <a href="http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/wounded-hero-ben-mcbean.html">Ben,</a> it’s about Steven and <a title="Wounded Hero Andy Newell's Testimonial" href="http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/wounded-hero-andy-newell.html">Andy</a> and Mark, it’s about them all. They are just blokes but they are our blokes; they are our heroes. We want to help our heroes."</p>
<p>Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.</p>
<p>So please dig deep and donate now.</p>
<p>Thank you so much.</p>
<p>Kate</p>