Our great friend and nearly neighbour Fergus Rooney, aged 8, sadly has to have a very long summer  spent in hospital having chemotherapy treatment for Lymphoma. This diagnosis came out of the blue shortly after half term and it has been a very difficult time for Fergus and his family. Whilst he is being so brave and stuck inside, we thought we would make the most of our summer and aim to swim the distance (as the crow flies) from Fergus’s house in Brown Candover in Hampshire, all the way to Southampton Hospital where he is being treated. Our aim is to raise as much money as possible for the Piam Brown ward, the children’s oncology ward where Fergus is being so well looked after. The distance we have to swim is 30km which equates to 2500 lengths of the pool in Portugal (about 30-40 each per day). We will aim to do it in 20 days so it is going to be a daily mission! This is a family effort but Freddie, Isla and George will be swimming the majority of the lengths. 

All the donations go directly to the charity fund and are ring fenced to benefit the children on the Piam Brown ward and their families. All donations enhance the experience of the young patients and their families. The charity fund is used for patient, family and staff wellbeing, specialised paediatric oncology education for staff and research to improve treatments. The fund can also buy much needed toys, games and technology to keep Fergus and the other children busy during these often very tough times.

Please dig deep and sponsor us, it really will make a difference to Fergus and the other children on the ward. Fergus is a super busy, cricket mad, happy little boy with loads of friends and if we can make his time in the hospital just that much better it will be worth it for him and his family.

Please click on the link to visit Piam Brown Ward's JustGiving page. Once you donate, JustGiving will send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

We will start on 30th July and finish on 18th August no doubt with very wrinkled fingers, toes and probably an ear infection or 5 but it will all be worth it!! Thank you all so much. Please be as generous as you can. Freddie, Isla, George, Chrissie and Sam xxx