On 6-8 May, over 21,000 swimmers will be heading to over 300 pools across the UK to raise money for our two amazing charity partners, Cancer Research and Marie Curie.Together we can really make a difference. We invite our swimmers to tell their story to help spread awareness and raise vital funds for these two incredible causes.

I will be swimming 100 lengths (2.5km) on 8th May 2022 to raise money for these brilliant charities.

Cancer Research is a charity incredibly close to my heart as my mum was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and sadly lost her 3 year battle in June 2018. 

Due to improved awareness of Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms in, she was diagnosed incredibly early and was able to have Whipples Surgery. This involved a long and stressful process of removing part of her bile duct, part of her pancreas, her duodenum and her gallbladder but it was very successful and after this and 6 months of chemotherapy, she received the all clear on July 20th 2016.

Unfortunately, around Christmas 2016, she started to get pain in her stomach and back and on 25th January 2017 we received the devastating news that the cancer had come back, with spots showing in her liver and a couple of lymph nodes. She went through 3 months of a different Chemotherapy, but her scan showed no signs of improvement - however we were just glad that it hadn't grown. This chemo continued for a further 3 months but at the 6 month scan in July 2017, the tumor had grown slightly.

After this, Mum started another new Chemotherapy in September 2017, but her scan in December 2017 showed slight growth of the tumor once again. She continued to be incredibly brave for the next 6 months and was on chemotherapy right up until the weeks before she died.

If it wasn't for her early diagnosis back in 2015, the chances of her surviving 3 years would have been very low. Only 20% of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer are eligible for the Whipples operation due to the cancer being caught so late in most occasions. That's why we believe it is so vital to raise money for charities like Cancer Research, to help prevent other families going through the same traumatic experience that we did.

Similarly, although we didn’t have first hand experience with Marie Curie, we did receive support from another Hospice and all the work that these Hospices do is absolutely invaluable for cancer sufferers and their families.

Any donations at all, no matter how small, would be incredibly appreciated!

Thank you for your support x