On July 1st this year I'm swimming from Northern Ireland to Scotland.

21 miles across the North Channel, in the Irish Sea.

Infamously known as the "Everest of Swims".

Why?

Because some battles are bigger than oceans.

I'm doing this to give victims of domestic abuse a voice.

To show them they are not alone.

To show them there is hope.

When I speak to the women who have inspired me to do this, who've lived through horrors most of us can't imagine; they all speak of hope.

Hope was the tiny flicker of light that refused to go out, even in their darkest moments.

Hope for freedom.

Hope for something better.

It's what gave them the courage to walk away - despite the fear, the threats, the unknown.

Domestic abuse doesn't care who you are.

Size, gender, strength - none of it protects you.

And while the bruises fade, the scars of emotional abuse and coercive control often cut the deepest.

Between April 2020 and March 2024 there were 1,012 domestic abuse related deaths in the UK alone.

I’m raising the money for safer.gg which provides both emotional support and physical refuge to victims as young as 4.

As the father of 3 young children, including one of almost 4, I cannot begin to imagine the impact of violence in the one place a child should feel safest - their home.

This swim has taken over two years of brutal training.

Breaking ice to swim in temperatures down to -13c, being scarred by jellyfish, putting on 20kg in “blubber” to protect me against hypothermia and completing a 6 hour qualification swim in 12 degrees centigrade.

In July this year I will swim over 21 miles, in choppy 13 degrees centigrade for 14+ hours. Alone.

My suffering will end though.

When I'm done, I can get out the water.

Victims of domestic abuse can't.

They carry their scars for days, weeks, months and sometimes a lifetime.

Thank you for giving generously.