Hi all, quick one before my Story - if you could please split any donation between my two charities Mind and RNLI, that would be perfect! It would be great to keep the total amounts as equal as possible as explained further down....

LINKS TO EACH CHARITY DONATION PAGE:

Mind RLNI

Once upon a time I was a (fairly) competitive swimmer, but despite my best efforts I didn't quite make the grade to be the next Michael Phelps, so competitive swimming went by the wayside. However, I have continued to enjoy the water - whether that's swimming for fitness, surfing, kite surfing and genuinely love any water based activities.

I have always thought that swimming the English Channel would be a monumental achievement (more people have climbed Everest!) and make use of my swimming ability and teenage years lost forever in a pool. So I thought it's about time I did something about it, and before turning 40 later this year, I aim to complete this epic challenge.

Two years ago I booked my slot with a licensed support boat to swim the Channel for September 2023. Since then the training has been relentless but essential - a mix of long sea swims through the warmer months and endless pool swimming throughout the winter. This will hopefully get me as prepared as possible for the 15 hours (plus) and over 30 miles distance depending on the tide, non-stop swim from the Dover coastline over to France's Cap Griz-Nez.

A huge chunk of motivation to complete this is driven by the loss of my eldest Brother, Sam, in 2020. Sam battled with mental health issues for several years but during positive episodes would promote the support he received from the charity, Mind. Sam was a passionate, competitive and intelligent person and a brilliant brother, but at the age of 41 he passed away.

Another personal charity I have always supported due to my love of the sea and water based hobbies is the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute). They volunteer whatever the weather, sea conditions and time of day to keep you and me safe around the UK coastline.

Therefore I would massively appreciate your generosity and any contribution big or small to help me meet my fundraising target for my Solo English Channel Swim.

I hope donations between these two life-saving charities will be as equal as possible (unfortunately Just Giving doesn't allow to split an overall fundraising pot between two charities).

So if you could split your donations between the two, great!... or see which is greater and add your donation to the other, perfect... or just donate away, if you prefer one charity or the other - in the end getting the fundraising money in is the most important part about all of this!

You can donate to a specific page by clicking the link below.

LINKS TO EACH CHARITY DONATION PAGE:

Mind RLNI

Or via the Team Member sections at the bottom and clicking on my name ‘Harry Nelson’ for each, then you can see which charity it is linked to and click ‘Give Now’.

If you are interested, please follow my progress with training, fundraising and the Swim on Instagram @_barrycuda

Huge thanks for your support! x

.... I am registered with the Channel Swimming Association and will have the necessary support to help me during the swim. Completing this challenge is down to my mental and physical ability, however, it is also hugely weather and tide dependent. There is a chance that in my swim window in September, it might not be possible to even start due to the conditions and therefore it could be postponed to a later date or the following year. Fingers crossed this isn't the case but if it does happen, I will provide updates via Instagram but your donations will still be welcomed for two great charities.