I’m attempting a 55-mile (88km) swim around the Isle of Arran in Scotland, to raise money for the Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST). This Arran-based charity helps to protect the amazing marine environment around the island’s coastline, allowing the wildlife that lives there to thrive.

I would be delighted if you would consider sponsoring me.

I’ll intending to do the swim over 10 days, starting on Saturday 5th September from Lamlash, which is where COAST’s main offices are. It’s a big challenge for me. While I have previously completed another island swim – around the Isle of Man – that was seven years ago. Since then, I’ve taken on one-off sea swims of up to 10 miles (16km) in Cornwall, Devon and elsewhere but, when it comes to taking on a big swim every day for more than a week, I’m a little out of practice.

COAST was established in 1995, when two Arran divers (Howard Wood and Don MacNeish) set up the charity with the aim of reversing the tragic decline of Arran’s marine habitats. With the community banding around them, COAST was able to pioneer the creation of Scotland’s first No Take Zone (NTZ) in 2008 – a highly protected area in Lamlash Bay where no fishing of any kind is allowed.

In 2016, COAST helped to create the South Arran Marine Protected Area, a vital conservation area covering half of the island’s coastline. After decades of intense fishing, trawling and dredging, these conservation areas have given the seabed an opportunity to recover and for marine life to return to the Clyde estuary.

Through scientific research, education programmes and active participation in Scottish Government marine policy, COAST continues to work tirelessly to protect the waters around Arran and beyond.

Any funds you contribute will directly contribute to COAST’s current research and outreach projects, the upkeep of their educational hub (The COAST Discovery Centre), their research and outreach vessel (the RV COAST Explorer), and the ongoing fight for greater protection of our seas.