Saturday 2 July: It's all over! Completed the Great London Swim today in 33.44 finishing 1332 out of 4897 swimmers. I can't thank enough everyone who had donated to this year's fundraising. Together we have enabled the school in Mirissa to purchase more land to provide a better education to more children. A truly rewarding achievement.
Saturday 25 June: I am delighted to have reached the fundraising target. On offline donation received this week has taken us over £4000. A huge thank you to all who adopted this cause and given generously. All being well, this time next week I will have completed the final swim in London.
Sunday 12 June: Great East Swim yesterday was a brilliant venue and a wide open course so not so much bumping and barging. Improved my time to 33.54 despite the after effects of a cold over the last fortnight. London beckons.
Monday 16 May: Delighted to get the first of three legs of this challenge behind me. Completed the difficult Salford Quays course yesterday in about 35 minutes. Water only 14 degrees, a windy day and a turning track! Suffolk next on 11 June.
This year I am swimming for a very small charity which educates children in Sri Lanka. There are two reasons for helping. Firstly, I have previously raised money for some big charities based in Britain and I feel it is time to lend support in a part of the world where there is very little money and there are very few other ways in which these children receive help. Secondly, there is a very specific purpose for raising money so everyone who sponsors me will know exactly how they have helped this community.
St. Elmo Memorial Trust (registered with the Charity Commission No. 1119986) was set up following the tsunami in 2004 and provides Montessori pre-school education and English foreign language classes for children between the ages of 3 and 6 in Sri Lanka. My daughter Georgia spent a month of her gap year in 2010 assisting the teachers at the charity’s school in Mirissa on the southern tip of Sri Lanka. The school is located in the grounds of the Buddhist temple at Bandarmulla 45 minutes from Galle. It is run by the head monk Anomasara Mamadale, known to all as Sara. Find out more about the school here.
Having grown to 127 pupils, the school at Mirissa needs space to expand. Some land has become available adjacent to the school grounds. If we can raise £4000 to buy this land, the Trust can provide a more suitable environment for their educational needs in this extremely poor part of the country. This will make a huge difference to the life chances of the young people in Mirissa. Your can be sure your donation will be greatly appreciated.
What will I be doing? This year I am doing not one but three of the Great Swims. I start in Salford Quay, Manchester on 15 May; then comes the Great East Swim in Suffolk on 11 June; and finally the Great London Swim again on 2 July. It is now compulsory for wetsuits to be worn at all Great Swims so no more cold water endurance this time! I will be training again on Monday evenings at the lake in Marlow.
Please give what you can and thank you so much. (Any surplus raised above the target will go to Cancer Research UK.)
Rupert
