Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Those of you who know me will know I love being in water and will swim at any opportunity. I am not the fastest swimmer, preferring breaststroke to other faster stronger stokes. However, I was given a firm grounding in water safety by my father and primary school making me confident in water. I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to swim in amazing locations around the world, including the UK, knowing my limits when doing so.

Sadly, this is not true for everyone in the UK. Each year, we hear of people dying in our waters and this summer has already been particularly tragic. One in four year 6 children cannot swim 25 metres, and one in four cannot self-rescue from water. Swim England wants to achieve a nation of swimmers, making sure that all children leaving primary school meet the National Curriculum minimum standards:

• swim at least 25 metres unaided
• use a range of strokes
• know how to self-rescue in a variety of settings.

This will allow children and families to enjoy our waters and have fun in them, just as it should be. 

To raise money for this great charity, I am going to challenge myself to swim outdoors once weekly for one year from August 2021 to July 2022. If swimming is prevented in a week for example due to weather conditions or ill health, the swim will be completed as soon as possible afterwards, with at least 52 swims completed in the year.

As much as I love being in water, I do not have a swimming routine especially in winter so this will be a big challenge for me. It will also involve generous support from my husband Iain, and others so I am not alone when swimming, especially for the winter swims. If you are able to, please donate to Swim England and support this important cause - thank you.

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.