A team of engineers at whitbybird has designed and is helping to construct a new library in the town of Waterloo, Sierra Leone as part of the country's post-civil war reconstruction. We were invited to coordinate the scheme in early in 2005 and have been involved ever since; the project goes on site in November.

Championing the project is Claire Curtis-Thomas MP, Chair of the Waterloo Partnership, a charity which twins Waterloo, Sierra Leone with a town of the same name in her Merseyside constituency.

On the 11th July our team of five swimmers from whitbybird braved the cold choppy waters of the English Channel to swim the 35km from Dover to the shores of Cap Gris Nez, France in a time of 12hours and 24 minutes.

The swim is part of our commitment to the project and the first of our fundraising activities to raise money for the Waterloo Partnership.

We welcome and very much appreciate your donations.

Thank you for your support,

To follow our blog and our progress both in and out of the water, go to http://web.mac.com/wbchannelswim

Kat, Sanna, Sam, Mark, Clive and Nick - The Swimmers