Hi everyone, this summer I'm taking part in a 4 person relay in an attempt to swim across The English Channel. This is to raise money for a very worthy cause, The Alexa Trust. This charity provides support to parents with babies in neonatal care. Founded in the memory of Alexa James, a premature baby born in 2015. The trust supports parents with babies in NICU’s across the UK and promotes the well being of mothers and their babies.

The plan is to swim from Samphire Hoe, Dover to Cap Griz-Nez in France - a distance of 21 miles. A swim of this magnitude is no easy feat. This distance will almost certainly be affected by weather conditions and increased by the tides, which can push swimmers along the shipping lane rather than across. The English Channel is the world’s busiest shipping lane and is notorious for its unpredictable conditions, floating debris and jellyfish! In fact more people have climbed Mount Everest than have swum the English Channel.

The swim is a combination of strength, endurance and mental resilience. The water temperature will be between 16-18 degrees and no wetsuits are allowed. Each team member will swim an hour in strict rotation with a 5 minute change over period allowed between each swimmer. We will be accompanied by a support boat and crew from the Channel Swimming Association to ensure we abide by the strict rules that govern channel swimming and more importantly to ensure that we are safe.

Leading up to this event we are all taking on various open swimming races and challenges. These include a 24 hour relay, The Champion of Champions in Dover harbour. Additionally, we must all complete a 2hr qualifying swim in water that is below 15.5 degrees.

I would be grateful if you could support and sponsor us in this event to help raise funds for The Alexa Trust. Being a parent of a baby born prematurely this charity is very personal to me.

With all my heartfelt thanks, Neil.

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