12 SEPTEMBER 2008: WE DID IT! Nine weeks after we had planned we set off for Dover at 4am on Friday, 12 September, avoiding the miles of parked lorries stacked up on the M20 because of the Channel Tunnel fire.

Having loaded our enormous pile of kit on the boat we made our way to Samphire Hoe beach where we left English shores at 7.40am.

Fifteen and a half hours later we touched French soil 'somewhere near Wissant'.

For all of us it was a quite extraordinary day and a challenge second to none!

We started off in calm (although wet) conditions and by about midday we got some sun.

But as is the way in the Channel, the winds picked up, we missed the tides and the last three miles took us around six hours. We felt like we were swimming backwards in huge waves, pitch black 15 degree water and we really did think for a while that we weren't going to make it.

The only bonuses were that we didn't see too many jellyfish and, despite being thrown around the boat, none of us were seasick.

We got there thanks in large part to the skills of our fantastic skipper, Ray, and, after the two hour crossing back (in the boat), a glass of champagne in the Dover Marina carpark and the journey home to London, arrived back at 4am on Saturday morning - 24 hours after leaving.

We cannot thank all our sponsors enough. It really did give us extra motivation to succeed and boy, did we need that at times!

Now we just need to think of the next challenge ...

UPDATE: 10 SEPTEMBER: August has been and gone and we've all tried hard to continue our training during the holidays. Unfortunately the (awful) British weather this summer has left sea temperatures somewhere between chilly and freezing BUT we are hopeful that this Friday, 12 September will be a day of calm winds and we can at last get swimming. Our skipper reckons on a relatively civilised 7am start which means at least we'll start in daylight - although it'll almost certainly be dark by the time we get to the other side. Thanks again to all of you who have sponsored us and here's to Friday ...

UPDATE: 18 JULY: A week of ups and downs. On Wednesday the weather was looking great for Sunday - lots of sunshine and a wind speed of just 6mph according to the BBC. We all re-packed our bags and psyched ourselves up for a 1am start. But by today, the Beeb had revised their forecast to a very unsettled part sunny/part cloudy outlook with wind speeds of 14mph. Other forecasts are even less optimistic with gusts of wind expected up to 25mph.

So it's all off now until September. The all important neap tide is at an end this weekend and after that various members of the team have holidays throughout August.

But looking at it positively: the sea temperature will be warmer by Sept (hopefully up to 17 degrees rather than the current 15); we'll all be even fitter by then; we can continue to fundraise AND; according to the front page of The Times earlier this week, there's going to be a heatwave in September.

UPDATE: 13 JULY: After a week of dreadful weather we were hopeful that Sunday, 13 July would be THE day. But on Saturday afternoon our skipper advised us that he thought conditions were still too unsettled and some strong winds blowing in later in the day would mean our chances of reaching France were not good.

You can only imagine our disappointment especially when we all woke up early on Sunday morning for a quick dip in the lido to be greeted by the most beautiful sunny morning. But it seems our skipper was right - by midway through the morning he reported that of five boats that had set off with swimmers in the early hours, only one was still going. One relay team had given up after only two miles ... So now we wait for another good day. We have a potential slot next weekend but otherwise it's September. Thank you to all who have sponsored us so far - we really appreciate it and we WILL swim at some point. The uncertainty of knowing when is all part of the challenge. Meanwhile, it's back to training and eating!

UPDATE: 9 JULY. The weather is not helping us much this week. Our proposed swim date of 11 July is looking increasingly unlikely but we are still hopeful that the weekend might prove to be sunnier and crucially, less windy...

THE SOUTHFIELDS CRAWLERS None of us are quite sure how we ended up saying we'd swim the channel in July this year.  Maybe it was David Walliams making it look so glamourous or maybe it's just a sign of  mid-life crisis.

Anyway, doing it we are.  The boat is booked to leave Dover beach at 4am on 11th July (weather permitting).  We are swimming as a relay which means we swim an hour each and keep rotating until we reach France. 

We have no idea how long it will take.  Previous crossings have taken between eight and twenty hours - tides and currents can make a lot of difference.

But enough of all that.  The reason for us doing this is we are hoping to raise a HUGE amount of money for charity for our efforts.  We are fundraising through this site and the money will be distributed by St Michaels to our selected charities:

The Royal Marsden: The Royal Marsden Hospital was the first hospital in the world dedicated to cancer treatment and research.  Today the hospital with its partner, The Institute of Cancer Research, is the biggest cancer centre in Europe with over 40,000 patients.

Tommys - The Baby Charity: Tommy's exists to save babies' lives through funding research into,  and providing information on, the causes and prevention of miscarriage, premature birth and stillbirth.

The National Autism Society: The NAS champion the rights and interests of all people with autism and aims to provide individuals with autism and their families with help support and services that make a positive difference to their lives.

We really appreciate any donation you can make.  Knowing we are raising money for such good causes will make it all seem worthwhile as we rub in the goose fat and fight off the jelly fish.

Thank you.

Steve, Lee, Glen, Brenda and Miranda - The Southfields Crawlers