This is my niece Milly who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes a year before this photo was taken. Since then Milly has had 21 years of daily finger pricks and insulin shots. She's been in and out of hospital, and even had to face surgery to deal with some of the complications. Despite all of this I am so proud of Milly. She has become a fun-loving, happy young woman with an amazingly positive and caring attitude. Her diabetes doesn't stop her, she works with it and gets it done - she recently  completed another half marathon.   

If you look closely at the picture you'll notice that I am the middle-aged, slightly chubby person in the background. I've always loved the sea. After being inspired by Milly I decided to do something to raise money for charity. Despite my being decidedly older and chubbier than I was in this picture, and the English Channel being colder and less blue than the sea around Antigua, a rash conversation on a particularly warm English summer day has resulted in my agreeing to be part of the SeaBirds Channel Swimming Relay team this September.

I've done a number of different challenges throughout my life but this is going to be the toughest. I'm not convinced about swimming in the dark, or through jellyfish, or wobbling about on a slow boat while I wait my turn. I hope the weather is kind but we need to be prepared for what we get. I'm not a fast swimmer, I need to get faster so we have some other milestone events along the way to keep our training on track - even some of these sound a bit crazy, Like swimming 1 mile, every hour, for 12 hours in an outdoor swimming pool in the UK in April! 

I'm committed to this. If I struggle I will look back at this image of little Milly, and remind myself that we need a cure for Type 1, please support me by donating some money to Diabetes UK