On 9th August 2001 my daughter was born 9 1/2 weeks premature at the Royal Oldham Hospital weighing a mere 2lb 7oz, spending 6 weeks in the Special Care Baby Unit. She was looked after impecably and very professionally by the staff on the unit.

I have always said that I wanted to repay them, so here I am 10 years later with my sponsored money raising event.

I am going to swim the equivalent of the English Channel (21 miles) in local swimming pools to raise money for the 'In Your Hands' Appeal. My plan is to complete it before Christmas, however I am hoping to actually complete a mile a day for 21 days.

The ‘In Your Hands’ Appeal wants your help and support to provide state of the art facilities and equipment for women & children from Oldham, Rochdale and surrounding districts.

The new facilities will include:
• A new neonatal intensive care unit for the smallest and most vulnerable babies
• New delivery rooms and maternity beds
• Obstetric theatres and a paediatric theatre
• Refurbishment of existing wards and departments

My aim is to complete this swim before Christmas and raise as much money as possible for a very worthy cause.

As well as donating online you can also text EAST76 £1 to 70070 - each text is free and you will receive a text receipt were you can add Gift Aid if you wish. Obviously you can replace £1 with an amount of your choice.

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Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Thankyou

Andy