I learnt to swim when I was 4 and I spent a lot of my childhood swimming. My kids learnt to swim early too and enjoy all the thrills of being able to swim and play in the water.

But not every child is so lucky, particularly in lower income countries where neither the infrastructure not the opportunities exist for swimming lessons.

Drowning is a silent epidemic that claims an estimated 360,000 lives every year, many of them children.

Drowning is the 3rd leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide.

So I have decided to swim the English Chanel as part of a relay team in September 2025 to raise money from Swim Takya.

SwimTayka's mission is to give disadvantaged communities around the world access to swimming teachers who can not only provide the life skills of swimming but create a legacy for today's children, who will grow up to teach the next generation.

Ever since our very first project took place in Huanchaco, Peru, we have received great feedback from volunteers and the locals who are involved in the projects. Each aspect of our programmes has proven valuable to the volunteers and local children. A past volunteer of our Peru project stated.