What would you do if you hate swimming, hate the cold and don’t particularly like sharks?

Probably not swim from Alcatraz island to the shore of San Francisco - a mile and a half journey, in strong currents across the Pacific Ocean, which no prisoner ever managed to successfully make.

With the help of our elite receptionist at Joel and Son Fabrics, Linda, who is an avid Michael Phelps fan and a pro at the backstroke, I have a coach who has promised to scream abuse at me while I learn to swim.

This is not a joke. I am actually doing this on April the 13th 2019. That means I have to learn to swim outside of the shallow section of the pool, (no I am not allowed to bring armbands) and also learn basic shark defence.

There is no more deserving cause than St George’s Hospital 

St George’s Hospital is a specialist centre for fetal, maternity and child services. Together with paediatric A&E, the teams based in Tooting see around 30,000 outpatients and 10,000 admissions as well as 5,000 births every year – with very sick patients referred from around the UK to access St George’s expertise. St George’s Hospital, Queen Mary’s Hospital and community services in south west London play a key part in the lives of our young people.

Please give generously as this may kill me, literally.