This will be my 4th year swimming the Pier to Pier and this year my niece is finally old enough to join me - and will no doubt beat me!

I will also be swimming this year in memory of a colleague, Noel Nester, who was a kind, quiet and generous individual and who will be sadly missed by all who knew him.

I'm raising money for the British Heart Foundation and I'd be so grateful for your support. The BHF has helped halve the number of people dying from heart and circulatory disease in the UK but sadly every day hundreds of people lose their lives. It's only thanks to support from people like us that the BHF can create new treatments and discover new cures. £24 could pay for two hours of research by an early career scientist, but every pound helps so please give what you can to help me hit my target. Thanks!