My nephew, Mark, was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy when he was four years old. Since that time the Hopkins family has been involved in various fund-raising activities for the Muscular Dystrophy UK charity, which supports families with children unfortunate enough to have the condition and funds much of the research work into treatments aimed at ameliorating the effects of Muscular Dystrophy in its various forms and ultimately eliminating it altogether. Towards the end of this year I will reach the age of 74 and I have decided to try to test myself with a suitably demanding individual challenge relating to that fact, which will at the same time make a useful contribution to Muscular Dystrophy UK. To meet the challenge, I will attempt to swim the equivalent of 74 miles in our swimming pool over the course of the calendar year 2023. As the pool is only 10 yards long, this will mean a total of 13,024 lengths (130, 240 yards) and, in keeping with the theme of the challenge, I am aiming to raise £7,400 for the charity. Sadly, Mark died when he was just 17 years old and this year will be the 26th Anniversary of his death. It would be wonderful if we could celebrate our memory of him by making a telling contribution to the work of Muscular Dystrophy UK and, with your help, I believe that we can. Please do not delay. If you mean to support me in the 74:74 Swimming Challenge, please donate now!

For further information about the charity please see the Muscular Dystrophy UK website at https://www.musculardystrophyuk.org