Thanks for joining me here and taking a few minutes to find out more!

What is it?

Swimming is something that has given me an outlet, goals, achievement, adventure, friends and peace at various important stages of my life. I've had the fortune to swim along Croatia, Turkey, Ibiza, Greece, Oman & the Scilly Isles and always been asked why I haven't done the Channel Swim.

There's the usual excuses that have existed whether it's life or career or cost but, ultimately, it's hard! It's 22 miles of tidal waters without a wetsuit across the busiest shipping lane in the world at a minimum of 3km/h from Dover to France through jellyfish and anything else you might encounter. It starts at circa 3:30am in pitch black and doesn't stop until you get there some 13+ hours later. You can't touch the boat or any people and you must stand unassisted on French land to be successful.

On Monday July 13th, 2026 my week slot to swim the Channel opens and I will be waiting for the Captain of my ship (High Hopes) to give me the confirmation of which day that week we will be going. This is the largest & most challenging event I've ever signed up to do - I won't lie, it's pretty intimidating.

The Channel is one of the 'Oceans Seven' swim challenges, a collection of the toughest swims in the world (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceans_Seven)

As of December 2024, over 7,200 individuals have successfully summitted Everest, while approximately 1,959 people have swum the English Channel.

Why???

All of us go through different & significant life experiences at different times in our lives. What has been incredibly clear to me (and any of you reading this who've experienced the same) is that life is incredibly short - you're here once and you have to give it everything you've got whilst you're able to do so.

I've lost family and friends to cruel circumstances and I've been inspired in the worst times by others to be the best person you possibly can. I will always be so grateful for the end of life care my parents received.

Anyone providing end of life care has something so special I couldn't possibly put it into words but what they do is so invaluable & so important that I feel compelled to give back where at all I can. What I'm doing is so small in the wider scheme of things but, with your help, we can do something great for people who need it the most.

Who are we raising money for?

"Brian House is a children' s hospice that provides free specialist care and support to children and young people on the Fylde coast who have a life-limiting illness, many of whom have multiple complex needs and sometimes require around-the-clock care.

Anyone who has visited Brian House, will tell you that it's a vibrant, active (and often noisy!) very special place at the heart of our local community, where we strive to help our most fragile youngsters and their families make the most of every day.

It costs £1.5 million to keep our doors open with very little government funding - As a charity our services are completely free of charge. So, we really rely on our local community and events like this to continue with compassionate care.

£1 pays for craft materials for a child to express themselves

£5 Pays for baby wipes for one child for a whole week

£10 Pays for a telephone call at 2am with a worried parent

£30 pays for 2 hours therapeutic play for a poorly child

£143.17 pays for a full hour of Brian House special care"

If you can spare a few more minutes, please watch this, when I did it broke my heart and convinced me I needed to do something at the same time (https://youtu.be/hVFs-OJWcZ8?si=Uaq99jecgORB4SDX).

THANK YOU FOR ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING YOU CAN SUPPORT WITH, LOTS OF LOVE - MATT :) X

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 and you are not obligated to 'tip' JustGiving, just set this to 'other amount' and enter £0.