I'm taking on the Aspire Channel Swim 2018, swimming the distance of the Channel over 12 weeks (in our local swimming pool, not the English Channel!! I have no desire whatsover to be slathered in lard and swim amongst tankers & ferries) to see if I can, to get fitter, more supple and stronger before surgery and to raise money for Aspire (who organise this challenge!)

I have a weird auto immune condition with no specific name (but similar to Lupus combined with RA) that is gradually eating away at my joints ... and my left knee is completely buggered ... and my right knee, my feet, my fingers and elbows are pretty painful too, swimming helps ease the pain and keeps me as supple as my crumbly bones allow.

My lovely chum Rachel, one of the other mums at school, who I swim with once a week, suggested doing this 22 mile challenge ... that's 1,452 lengths of our local 25 metre pool (yoikes and aarggghhhh), and I agreed to join her ... neither of us are the greatest swimmers, but we try and I struggle hugely being unable to do breast stroke (previous spinal surgery and currently knackared knee) and I've never quite sussed front crawl... so it is going to be a laborious long plod (splosh) ... It will help me get fitter and lighter before my knee surgery which is a good thing. We normally do around 30 lengths when we go for a swim, once a week, now we need to do around 50 lengths 3 times a week, to give you some idea.

Every eight hours someone is paralysed by a Spinal Cord Injury and Aspire provides the essential equipment, advice, housing and grants that spinal cord injured people need to live their lives independently. This is a big challenge, but the more I raise, the more of a difference I'll make, so please consider donating!

If you'd like to donate anything directly to the remarkable charity Women's Aid, that would also be fab ... and if you just want to cheer me on / laugh in a virtual way and not donate then that's perfectly ok!

Thanks
x