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I am attempting to swim the English Channel to raise money for The Antoine Trust. I have chosen this charity as it has touched so many hearts close to me and all the money raised goes towards helping children with cancer in Jersey. 

In the last few years I have completed a round Jersey relay swim, a solo round Jersey swim, Lake Windermere and, last year, I swam from Jersey to France.

I did all this in preparation for my  biggest challenge yet - swimming the English Channel ! 

The Antoine Trust was created in memory of Antoine Willing, who died of a cancerous brain tumour on 11 April 2012, aged seven.

Having supported Antoine through two years of illness both in Jersey and in the UK, his parents gained an invaluable insight into the hardships faced by Jersey children, and their families, dealing with cancer treatment. They also experienced first hand the disruption and chaos that regularly surrounds the treatment, despite the wonderful care and support offered by the teams on Robin Ward and from Family Nursing and Home Care.

This led them to setting up a Charitable Trust with the intention of enhancing the type of care which children and their families receive whilst undergoing cancer treatment.

Over the last few months, the Trust has worked with Health & Social Services to develop a new role for a dedicated paediatric oncology nurse,  Not only will this ensure that UK best practice is achieved in Jersey, but the burden currently borne by the families of patients in coordinating the care for their children will be significantly reduced, thereby enhancing the quality of life for the whole family during this demanding and traumatic time. 

Whilst the response from the medical teams was overwhelmingly supportive,
finding the budget for this role, in the current economic climate, was going to be a major obstacle. The Trust has therefore undertaken to fund the post for the next three years. 
This timing ensures that children and their families can start benefitting from the creation of the role in the very near future. 
It also provides Health & Social Services with the opportunity to improve their service ahead of the next States budget in 2016, which is the earliest this proposal would have otherwise been considered.

The Trustees are supporting Health & Social Services in the recruitment process and it is hoped that a nurse could be in place in the first quarter of 2013.

The Trustees firmly believe that this new nursing role will provide targeted and meaningful support, on an on-going basis, for both children and families affected by cancer, and this will have a lasting legacy.