My plan is to swim 20 MILES to celebrate the 20 years Sorted has been meeting with young people here in the north of Bradford. I’ve seen for myself how Sorted can be transformational, allowing young people a space to belong and socialise, grow confidence and find friends, and many find their faith in Jesus along the way.

Sorted sessions come in many forms: weekly social nights, Bible studies, very regular visits to two large senior schools, Sunday worship, after school clubs and once a year, a fabulous residential. In 2024, more than 500 individual young people came to a session so Sorted’s impact is huge in this area. I want to raise money for these great young people, and show them they matter. I also want to back the incredible team at Sorted who put in many hours listening to young people, have many late nights and put in a lot of care and have done for 20 years.

This is something I first thought about in Summer 2023 when I was just over the worst of my cancer treatment. However, just as I was about to go public with this idea, I got good old Covid and spent the next four months coughing and frightening the medics.Anyway, here we are, I’m feeling well (praise the LORD) so here we go!

About the swim: Eccleshill Pool is 33.5metres long. If I do 20 lengths every week for a whole year, I’ll be nearly there. I made a start in January and managed 14 lengths and felt exhausted. I genuinely wondered if this was at all possible. Since then, I’ve built up my stamina and now I’m swimming twice a week and doing 20 lengths most times. It will be a stretch though and I will need all your encouragement. Inevitably, if ill health strikes, it will take longer than a year but currently, I’m optimistic and the fitter I am, the better for everyone. And I promise NO PHOTOS OF ME IN A SWIMSUIT.

Every pound will keep the good work of Sorted going and encourage me to keep going too so sponsoring me whatever you can is appreciated.

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