I’m doing an English Channel Swim as part of the Surfrajets relay team fundraising for Choose Love. If you can donate, amazing — and if not, never underestimate how powerful kindness can be!

Looking back on my 70 years I’ve been privileged to move freely around the world, been treated with kindness, had so much more than basic needs met without question. At a time of so much discord and upheaval in the world supporting those who don’t have this luxury, who have been forced to leave home in search of safety, is more vital than ever.

One of my earliest memories is of swimming with angel fish in the Gulf of Aden where my RAF father had been posted. Most days we were in the sea or the pool and I loved it. My first job was as a pool lifeguard, and though I’ve traveled the world and played many different roles since my love for being on or in the water endures. To celebrate turning 50 I learned to scuba dive and did reef conservation surveys in Fiji. After moving to Brighton year-round sea swimming became a breeze (thank you Salty Seabirds!), and a childhood dream of swimming the Channel slowly resurfaced. When I suggested it to fellow Salties I thought I might be too old and slow. Coach Christine kindly disabused me of that notion… So here I am, training like mad, celebrating my 70th birthday by swimming the channel in a team of 6 wonderful women - we are The Surfrajets! The tide window for our swim is at the end of July 2026 and you can follow our journey on Instagram @thesurfrajets