Well I'm sure I'm not alone in having lost someone I love to heart disease. So while my heart goes on beating normally and in memory of those no longer with us, I've signed up for a new challenge and am trying to raise some money for the British Heart Foundation at the same time. This brilliant charity funds research into improving treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cardiovascular disease, which is the UK's single biggest killer

I've joined a 5-person relay team called The Channel Hoppers and our challenge is to swim the English Channel in mid-September. I've been training hard over the winter down at the pool and at Dover most weekends since early May. It's hard work, but great fun ! I achieved my 2 hour qualifying swim at Dover on June 5th, before the water got above a balmy 15 degrees.

We've booked the boat to accompany us on our swim; just us, our cozzees, swimming hats and goggles. No wetsuits, and definitely no goose fat...!?! but maybe a few seascikness tablets... We'll take it in turns to swim for an hour each and will keep going till we reach France, avoiding the ferries & the jellyfish as we go ! It's a distance of 22 miles, but we reckon we'll probably each have to swim 4 times before we finally get there. Knowing I'm raising money at the same time will really help me keep going, so I'd really welcome your support

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page anyway.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.