I've been training all year to swim the Serpentine - twice! Two laps is two miles (128 lengths in a standard pool). Also it's outdoors, cold, & full of ducks, but I AM A MIGHTY MERMAID! Also the cause couldn't be better.

Refugee Action have been doing amazing frontline work since 1981, and also this was the first fundraiser I saw that wasn't a running one (I am not a runner). Please donate anything you can, & wish me luck!

There are a lot of terrifying things happening in the world right now, & refugees face many, compounded hardships and trauma - and then scapegoating on top of that. There but for the grace of God (currently) go any of us.

I've gone to counter-demos when the fash are hounding hotels housing asylum-seekers, but I want to be doing something more direct, too. Here's Refugee Action explaining how your donations could help:

"£10 could provide toys or craft supplies for children to enjoy while their parents receive advice from our caseworkers.

"£25 could provide unlimited data, texts and phone calls for a family for a month, meaning they can keep connected with loved ones back home.

"£50 could provide a refugee family with their first weekly shop when they arrive in the UK to rebuild their lives.

"£100 could fund six sessions with a support case worker, offering people vital wellbeing support as they navigate the harsh realities of the asylum process."