Every day schoolgirl Libby Pardoe is diving in to her local swimming pool with one thing on her mind – the brave Hampshire soldiers who have just been sent to the Afghanistan frontline.

The 15-year-old has decided to do what she can to support
the troops, who are risking life and limb, choosing to
swim a mile for every day the boys are deployed to the war
zone. Because of the staggering
of deployment dates it’s likely that will mean Libby
clocking up more than 300 miles – or around 21,000
lengths between now and next April.
She’s hoping Daily Echo readers will get behind her
mammoth challenge by digging deep to sponsor her
splashing effort and raise money to support those who
could return scarred by life changinginjuries.
Libby, a pupil at Priestlands School in Lymington, is supporting the
Daily Echo-backed campaign to help the 1st Battalion,
Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment – nicknamed The
Tigers – raise £60,000. The money, which we are
helping to bring in through the sale of Tigers wristbands,
will be reserved for immediate use to help the
families of soldiers who may be flown home for urgent
medical treatment. Sporting her own distinctive
yellow and blue band around her wrist, Libby, who
lives with her family in the New Forest, doesn’t have to
look far to remind her why she is getting in the water
every day of the week. She became aware of The Tigers
and their huge task ahead through her mum Deborah’s
work with the regiment and decided she wanted to help.
Deborah said: “I have always brought her up to
believe that life is about what you give, not what you get.
Libby is very aware that these guys are putting their
lives on the line and if they come back hurt then financially,
they are going to need help.
“This money is for immediate assistance for them and
their families should the unthinkable happen – and she
is hoping every day it will be the biggest waste of time. If
they don’t need a penny, that would be just great"