I am training to swim the Henley Classic on 30th June 2024 in aid of Gateways. This is a 2.1 kilometre swim against a gentle upstream. The famous Henley Regatta boat course is closed to boats for two and a half hours every year to make way for this event. We begin at 4:00 am and we have to vacate the water by 6:30 am. I hope to do it well within that time.

My aim is to raise money for Gateways, but also to raise awareness of the incredible work that Gateways does to help young people access education.

I think this is an appropriate challenge for me to raise money for Gateways because swimming has never been easy for me. After countless lessons, I taught myself to swim in a bitterly cold lake at the age of twelve. For the next twenty or so years, I swam a shy breast stroke, head high, hair dry and intact at the end of a twenty minute swim. This, coupled with the fear I felt in the water, meant that I did not see much success in my swimming. As an adult, I had sporadic swimming lessons, enabling me to put my face in the water and do a fairly respectable breast stroke but the anxiety was ever present.

In 2020, when the Covid authorities starting permitting swimming again, I took lessons and have gradually been improving since. I can now add a reasonably confident front crawl and back stroke to my repertoire though I am constantly striving to improve these.

My brother, Robert, has been encouraging me and, for my birthday, gave me the entry fee to the Henley Classic. Some gift! But I have really seized the opportunity and have been training both in pool and pond. I never thought I would be able to swim over two kilometres without stopping but I now do it regularly in the pool and am working towards that in the pond.

Gateways is an alternative educational provision that serves the whole spectrum of the Jewish community, from the very ultra-orthodox to the very liberal. Students attending Gateways are aged 14+ and generally struggle to remain in mainstream school due to poor mental health, critical illnesses and social and emotional challenges, preventing them from accessing the education they deserve.

Delivering a broad curriculum, this unique offering in the UK Jewish community, caters to the interests, abilities and specific needs of each student and prepares them for a life beyond education.

Referrals have increased substantially since the Covid epidemic and Gateways wants to be able to help all the students who need its help.

Gateways teaches the core subjects: Maths, English, Science, mainly up to GCSE, but this depends on the student. There are also qualifications in cookery, hair and beauty, and photography. This is set to expand, depending on funding and demand. It is currently a part-time provision, but working towards full-time within the next two years.

I am really proud to be a maths teacher at Gateways and I will shout from the rooftops at the good that the charity does. I see first-hand students who would otherwise be languishing in their bedrooms, or getting into trouble in the streets, flourishing and wanting to achieve. Students who come through the door at Gateways with a smile on their face when they had been previously refusing to go to school for months or even years.

So I hope you will show me your support as I overcome my own challenges in order to help Gateways students overcome theirs.