As proof that ageing dogs can learn new tricks, I have signed up for my first ever voluntary sporting challenge!

Over the next 10.5 weeks I’ll be swimming 22 miles across the English Channel (well, actually the equivalent distance in the very glamorous Tooting Leisure Centre) to raise money for people who have been paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury. The challenge is actually to do it in 12 weeks but I'm not in the country for all of that time, so I'm doing it in 10.5. Because apparently I don't want to make life easy for myself.

Every eight hours someone is paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury. It can happen to anyone at any time, and there is currently no cure. Every pound that I raise means that Aspire can provide practical help to a spinal injured person, allowing them to live a more independent life, so please donate as much as you can and help make a difference.