Thank you for visiting my JustGiving page to make a donation to Mind, or simply to find out how far I've got to go!

Starting on 16th October, I'm going to be attempting to swim the length of the English Channel in ten weeks at my local pool. For anyone interested in the stats, that's:

• 22 miles
• 1072 lengths in total
• 107 lengths per week!

If you don't think that sounds like much of a challenge, just bear in mind that in February this year I couldn't swim one length without stopping. That was before I started taking swimming lessons, and building up my skills, stamina and confidence, until the pool became one of my favourite places to be.

Swimming the length of the Channel in ten weeks is a personal challenge, but it isn't the biggest one I've faced. Over the past three years I've struggled with depression and anxiety, and although I don't find it easy to talk about, I wanted to do something to raise awareness of mental health and hopefully start some positive conversations.

Mind has been an amazing source of information and knowledge for me, without which I would have been ten times more scared and in the dark about what I've been going through, and felt a hundred times more alone.

Providing online information and support for mental health is just one area of the important work that Mind does, not giving up until everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets support and respect. Having helped me through the biggest challenge I've faced so far, I want to give something back to Mind by facing another. Your support would mean the world.

Whether you're able to donate or not, please keep checking this page for updates of how far I've swum and how far I've got to go. Also if you want to find out more about mental health, I can't recommend the Mind website enough: https://www.mind.org.uk/

Thank you,

Emma x