Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I was lucky enough to grow up in a small town called Gosport that happens to be opposite the Isle of wight. I have spent many long summer days as a boy with my family and later in life with my wife and 2 daughters on the beach looking at the Isle of Wight thinking… I could swim that! The reality is quite different and is, tide dependant around 4 miles away! Thanks to the GAFIRS CHARITY I have the opportunity to fulfil a life long dream and hopefully raise some valuable funds to help them carry on their amazing work to their local community.

I have taken my training seriously, walking 45 miles on average every week as well as swimming. All this moving about has helped me shift around 7 stone of weight in the process!!!

I will be completing the swim with my awesome brother and sister in law as kayak support, as well as many other fantastic friends on the day that are taking part.

GAFIRS is an independent lifeboat and inshore rescue service that was founded in 1969. As a declared facility to the UK Coastguard, we provide emergency lifeboat cover to the Eastern Solent and Portsmouth Harbour. Our crews live normal lives just like you. However, when the Coastguard activate those of them on pager call out, they drop everything at a moment’s notice and respond to people in distress; 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and in all weathers. On average we respond to 100 incidents per year. These vary from towing stricken vessels away from danger, all the way to providing life saving first aid to critically injured casualties. Time and time again our teams have been awarded national commendations for our life saving services to the community. Our members commit hundreds of hours each per year in order to maintain this vital public service.

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.