Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page and thank you to all of you who have sponsored me over the last three years.

As most of you will know by now, I have swam in the Great North Swim on Windermere for the past three years, completing 1 mile in 2011, 2 miles in 2012 and 2 miles in 2013.

For 2014, I wanted to push myself even further, so this year I am going to complete a double swim. This will comprise 5km on Windermere on FRIDAY 13th June (ominous date...), followed by the length of Coniston (8.5km / 5.25 miles) on 6th September.

As is so often the case, the main challenge for endurance sports is not so much the event (which will no doubt be gruelling enough), it is the amount of training required in advance. I am already having to complete hours of swimming in the local pool, along with miles in open water every week.

However, this goes no way to compare with the struggle endured by many children fighting for their young lives every day in hospitals around the country.

This leads me to introduce the charity I am swimming for this year : Bethany's Sunshine Fund...

The charity was set up by my family in memory of my niece, Bethany Dawson, who was born in June 2007 and underwent over 25 surgeries and lived most of her short life in Birmingham Children's Hospital. Beth lost her struggle in September 2009, just months after her second birthday.

During her time in hospital, Bethany's parents and the rest of her family (including myself), learned a lot about the struggles endured by hospitalised children and their families, many of which have to face additional financial hardship due to unforeseen expenses caused by their unfortunate circumstance. Following treatment and during recovery, for children who require ongoing care but are well enough to go home, in many cases the hospital are only able to authorise their release if various works are carried out at home, such as installation of surgical taps for hygiene etc. Some of the families are unable to afford such works and therefore, in many cases the children cannot go home to recover.

This is where Bethany's Sunshine Fund helps. The charity was set up to assess cases and release funding to enable families to spend time with their children during their time in hospital, along with funding works to the home environment if required to allow children to return home during their recovery.

The funds provided by the charity are not significant in value however, they make a significant contribution to the lives of seriously ill children and their families. The following provides some examples of families assisted by Bethany's Sunshine Fund over the past 12 months:-

- A little girl with Leukemia was able to go home to live with her family after they received a grant of £400 to enable a shower unit to be fitted in her home. She has had a bone marrow transplant and is continuing her fight.

- A Family with a terminally ill baby boy was able to concentrate on staying with their son at the hospital, having precious moments to remember, after receiving a £400 grant for food, travel and expenses. Before they had this money the father was sleeping on the floor of the parent’s room at the hospital as they had no money for travel to and from home. Unfortunately this baby boy is now at a local hospice and his parents are able to spend time with him during his last moments.

- The intensive care Unit at Birmingham Children’s Hospital have Night Lights on order, to be installed above each bed for sick children to enjoy,  to be paid for with a £200 donation from Bethany’s Sunshine Fund. Previously only two bedspaces had these lights.

- The Family of a 9 month old boy were able ready their home for him to live in comfort. The boy was born with multiple problems, now requiring respiratory physio daily, neuro physio and is currently under speech and language where they are encouraging his speaking valve. He has input from play therapists to help encourage and motivate play. The biggest part of his treatment is his ventilation, he depends upon this to support his breathing. Bethany’s Sunshine Fund granted £500 for various equipment around the home, needed to provide an easily cleanable space for him to live in. This family are getting used to the freedom of having their child with them.

Thank you for taking the time to read this email and I do hope you will support me in my efforts to support Bethany's Sunshine Fund and others in need.

I will keep you all posted about my progress over the coming months.

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