Members of the Community Crisis Response Team have swum The Channel more than four times this spring as part of a charity challenge.
The ‘Magnificent 7’ team signed up for Diabetes UK’s national Swim22 Challenge, in which individuals or teams swim 22 miles – the distance of The Channel – in their local pools over a 12-week period, logging their miles on an online tracker and raising money through sponsorship.
Our swimmers soon passed the 22-mile mark, and by the end of the challenge on Tuesday had swum an incredible 101 miles, putting them 6th in the league for distance out of 334 teams nationally.
Jim Shannon, deputy manager of the CCRT and swim-squad member said: “This challenge ticks all the boxes for us: it’s about raising awareness of diabetes, which is a key message for us at LSW; it’s encouraging wellbeing by getting people exercising regularly; it’s a way of raising money to benefit the community; and it’s a great example of us working together as a team regardless of our specific role.
“It’s great that we hit the 100-mile mark – I’m so proud of the team!”
Social worker Maria Kneller suggested the idea, and as well as Jim, she signed up Anne Cormack, occupational therapist; Jo Pearce, mental health nurse; Jade Wilson, nurse; Rachel Willoughby, paramedic; and Zara Cook, physiotherapist.
Anne said: “I’m really glad I agreed to this. Swimming isn’t something I’d have done regularly before, but I’m definitely going to continue after the challenge. I’ve lost weight, I feel fitter and I’m enjoying being part of the challenge. I’ve even been swimming after late shifts, so I’m proud of myself.”
The CCRT already has Trim Tuesday when cakes are a no-go zone, and is doing a Step Challenge. And they’re already thinking ahead to the Burgh Island charity swim challenge in September…
