I am delighted to tell you I have now undertaken my swimming challenge and completed it successfully on Thursday 10th April. The ladies who usually come swimming with me were there to support me; as was Mick, my husband (but he took the photos so you can't see him)!

Although 20 lengths of a swimming pool may not be a great challenge for some people, for me it certainly was because I am a very slow swimmer; and it was an Olympic size pool, 50 metres long. I had been in training for many months and it finally paid off.

The reason I was doing this was because, as many of you will know, Tom our son, took his own life in February 2010. Since then, I have met two Mums here in France, whose children have done the same. I found it incredible that this could happen to three families just in my own circle of friends. On talking to our daughter Becky, she told me about the charity in England called the Campaign Against Living Miserably. Having looked at their internet site, I thought how modern and user friendly it seemed; just the sort of place Tom might have turned to for solace at that difficult time in his life. Although I can't turn the clock back for Tom or my friends' children, perhaps you can help me in my own small way, to help other men in similar circumstances in the future.

C.A.L.M. not only provides a helpline on a daily basis, but also tries to point people in the right direction for long-term help.They are also trying to make wives, partners, Mums, sisters and girlfriends aware of the signs of depression, so they they can encourage their loved ones to seek help earlier.

Why not take a look at their site yourself and you will see just how much it costs each day to keep something like this going?

With suicide now being the biggest cause of death in the U.K. for men between 20 and 49 years of age, I hope I can help this charity in what, I feel is a very important task.

 I hope you will feel able to support this worthwhile cause.

You will see that some of the money was donated by Abby's friends and family. Abby is Becky's friend; and she swam 5 kms as part of Sport Relief, two weeks ago. Having heard what I was doing, she very kindly asked people to donate via my web-page, to C.A.L.M. I am truly grateful.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.