On Sunday 17th June I (Josie) undertook her first open water training session at a lake just off the M4 in Berkshire. Accompanied by a friend who has been training for the Great North Swim this coming weekend, I went down to the lake for 8am. Upon arrival it was exciting and inspiring to see that there were around 40 other swimmers in the lake, I had no idea open water swimming was so popular!
After a wetsuit fitting (yes I know we are not allowed them for the Channel Swim but for this training I was) I apprehensively got into the water which was an apparently mild 16.6 degrees Celsius - not too far off what we are hoping the Channel will be by the last week of August when we swim. After getting used to the temperature and spotting of the buoys while completing laps of the circuit I found the whole experience very refreshing and enjoyable. I completed 2.25km in 42 minutes, which as a first outdoor swim is very encouraging as we hope to be averaging speeds of 3km/hr in the summer. As well as practising in a different and more realistic environment the experience was also good to help acclimatise to the temperature and lack of visibility, as well as practising not swallowing too much water which could be disastrous in the sea in the summer!
I am off back there this evening for my second training session, and am hopeful that it will be as fruitful and entertaining as the first! I will keep you posted...
About Me
- Challenge 5:21
- 5 people : 21 miles We are 5 girls from Reading who are swimming the English Channel in the summer of August 2012 to raise money and awareness for Cancer Research UK. Follow on here our progress in training and organizing our challenge!
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Upcoming Events
Now that we are all beginning to finish for summer there are several events happening at the moment relating to both training and fundraising:
1. Open water training at lakes in Berkshire
2. Bake Sale at Abbey School Sports Day
3. Car Boot sales in late June/July
We have raised over our £1000 target on our JustGiving page which is absolutely incredible! Thank you to everyone who has donated, we really appreciate it and it is all going to such a worth while cause.
If you haven't yet donated but want to the link is below:
http://www.justgiving.com/Challenge-521
We will update on further news/events as and when they happen!
1. Open water training at lakes in Berkshire
2. Bake Sale at Abbey School Sports Day
3. Car Boot sales in late June/July
We have raised over our £1000 target on our JustGiving page which is absolutely incredible! Thank you to everyone who has donated, we really appreciate it and it is all going to such a worth while cause.
If you haven't yet donated but want to the link is below:
http://www.justgiving.com/Challenge-521
We will update on further news/events as and when they happen!
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Party Time!
A couple of weeks ago Alice held a fundraiser at a her Grandma's community centre. She had arranged a French-themed fair selling knitted items (hand-made by her family) as well as a tombola with donated prizes from various shops in Wokingham as well as residents. The event lasted all day and she managed to raise an incredible £1060! We'd like to thank everyone who donated items (especially the knitters!) and everyone that went along on the day, we really appreciate your support.
Last Thursday we continued our fundraising with a party at Revolution in Reading. They had kindly allowed us to use the space free of charge because it was a charity event and had even donated a 4 person cocktail masterclass for the tombola. All five of us managed to meet up beforehand and had a good catch up and even had time to talk about organising some outdoor training swims for the next few months in between all the girly gossiping! We were all feeling very nervous by this point, worrying that it was going to be a disaster and nobody was going to turn up. We tried to reassure each other but there was definitely a lot of anxiety about the forthcoming evening.
We put on our Mark Evison Foundation t-shirts and a brave smile and all headed out to Revs. After a slow start we peaked at around 40 guests and we all breathed a sigh of relief. It was an excellent night with lots of ridiculous dancing, mostly courtesy of Izzy! We hope everyone enjoyed the evening and we managed to raise an excellent £260.
We'd like to thank Thorntons, The Body Shop, Jamie Oliver's Italian, Pizza Hut, The Entertainer and Vue for their donations of tombola prizes, as well as Revs for giving us the venue, tombola prize and some generous drinks deals for the evening. A huge thank you also goes to everyone who came down and made the evening such a success.
We're all heading off to University again over the next couple of weeks and the training will start to step up a gear so wish us luck both in the water and out! Keep an eye out for updates on here/Twitter/Facebook and maybe even in more local newspapers :D
Last Thursday we continued our fundraising with a party at Revolution in Reading. They had kindly allowed us to use the space free of charge because it was a charity event and had even donated a 4 person cocktail masterclass for the tombola. All five of us managed to meet up beforehand and had a good catch up and even had time to talk about organising some outdoor training swims for the next few months in between all the girly gossiping! We were all feeling very nervous by this point, worrying that it was going to be a disaster and nobody was going to turn up. We tried to reassure each other but there was definitely a lot of anxiety about the forthcoming evening.
We put on our Mark Evison Foundation t-shirts and a brave smile and all headed out to Revs. After a slow start we peaked at around 40 guests and we all breathed a sigh of relief. It was an excellent night with lots of ridiculous dancing, mostly courtesy of Izzy! We hope everyone enjoyed the evening and we managed to raise an excellent £260.
We'd like to thank Thorntons, The Body Shop, Jamie Oliver's Italian, Pizza Hut, The Entertainer and Vue for their donations of tombola prizes, as well as Revs for giving us the venue, tombola prize and some generous drinks deals for the evening. A huge thank you also goes to everyone who came down and made the evening such a success.
We're all heading off to University again over the next couple of weeks and the training will start to step up a gear so wish us luck both in the water and out! Keep an eye out for updates on here/Twitter/Facebook and maybe even in more local newspapers :D
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Back to School
On Monday 26th March Alice and myself (Josie) had the pleasure of returning to our old secondary school The Abbey, in Reading. We were invited back to hold an assembly for the current students age 14-18 about why we were undergoing the swim itself and how we were going about doing it.
Niether Alice nor myself had been back to school since picking up our A Level results there in 2010 and 2009 respectively and neither or us really new what to expect. Had the school changed much? Would we recognise anyone? Had assembly format been altered?
Fortunately we were received very warmly by the staff and students who patiently listened to our plans and what we have been up to so far, as well as what is going to happen in the near future. It was lovely to be back in school again, which we can now safely say hasn't changed dramatically, and we still recognised a few staff members which was also lovely! In fact the whole experience made us somewhat nostalgic of school life again, especially when we heard the school bell go!
Alice and I would like to thank all the staff and students for making us feel so welcome and for allowing us to come in and speak to them. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and hope to be back soon!
Lots of news on forthcoming events to come in the next few days so watch this space....
Niether Alice nor myself had been back to school since picking up our A Level results there in 2010 and 2009 respectively and neither or us really new what to expect. Had the school changed much? Would we recognise anyone? Had assembly format been altered?
Fortunately we were received very warmly by the staff and students who patiently listened to our plans and what we have been up to so far, as well as what is going to happen in the near future. It was lovely to be back in school again, which we can now safely say hasn't changed dramatically, and we still recognised a few staff members which was also lovely! In fact the whole experience made us somewhat nostalgic of school life again, especially when we heard the school bell go!
Alice and I would like to thank all the staff and students for making us feel so welcome and for allowing us to come in and speak to them. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and hope to be back soon!
Lots of news on forthcoming events to come in the next few days so watch this space....
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
A Prestigous Invite
Last week we receieved an invitation to attend the Young Achiever's Trust awards ceremony. It was to take place on Monday 19th March at the Speakers House. This was the extent of the information we received and so armed with an overwhelming sense of intrigue and a variety of outfit choices, Amy and I (Poppy) made our way to the Houses of Parliament. We asked the friendly Policeman outside the gate where Portcullis House entrnace was and were directed away from the Houses of Parliament. Luckily we found a group of people stood outside what Amy described as "Tesco Express offices" and in true British style, we joined the queue! We were ushered in to a reception area where our bags were checked and we were subjected to airport style security. After receiving our security passes, we waited in the crowded atrium of an extremely large greenhouse. We were then ushered down staircases and through corridors until we emerged into the courtyard of the actual Houses of Parliament!
Amy and I were still bewildered and confused as to exactly why we were there and what on earth was happening but we smiled graciously as they gave us name tags and showed us into a very grand room. Not quite a champagne reception but the OJ and apple juice went down a treat! We were told to "make ourselves at home" in a set of rooms which would not have looked out of place in a period drama. We oohed and aahed at the magnificence of the suite and giggled at our incompetence to mingle with anyone other than each other!
There followed a few quick speeches, one of which was given by Sholto Moger, our mentor from the Mark Evison Foundation who helped us through our application. The awards ceremony was short but sweet and both Amy and I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the calibre of the young people who were receiving the prestigious awards. Once all of the awards had been given out, we managed to pluck up the courage to talk to Margaret Evison and her daughter Lizzie. Margaret then introduced us to Sholto and it was nice to finally be able to put a face to the name. We also met some of the previous recipients of Mark Evison Foundation awards and the chance to talk to them about their achievements and future plans was awe-inspiring!
As the dignitaries and award winners had left, Amy and I took our leave. After a false start on the tube we finally made our way to Paddington and eventually home again. We'd like to thank the Young Achievers' Trust and the Mark Evison Foundation for the wonderful opportunity and generous hospitality.
But after all this partying, it's sadly back to the training plan...
Amy and I were still bewildered and confused as to exactly why we were there and what on earth was happening but we smiled graciously as they gave us name tags and showed us into a very grand room. Not quite a champagne reception but the OJ and apple juice went down a treat! We were told to "make ourselves at home" in a set of rooms which would not have looked out of place in a period drama. We oohed and aahed at the magnificence of the suite and giggled at our incompetence to mingle with anyone other than each other!
There followed a few quick speeches, one of which was given by Sholto Moger, our mentor from the Mark Evison Foundation who helped us through our application. The awards ceremony was short but sweet and both Amy and I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the calibre of the young people who were receiving the prestigious awards. Once all of the awards had been given out, we managed to pluck up the courage to talk to Margaret Evison and her daughter Lizzie. Margaret then introduced us to Sholto and it was nice to finally be able to put a face to the name. We also met some of the previous recipients of Mark Evison Foundation awards and the chance to talk to them about their achievements and future plans was awe-inspiring!
As the dignitaries and award winners had left, Amy and I took our leave. After a false start on the tube we finally made our way to Paddington and eventually home again. We'd like to thank the Young Achievers' Trust and the Mark Evison Foundation for the wonderful opportunity and generous hospitality.
But after all this partying, it's sadly back to the training plan...
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Just Giving Page now open!
After what has been a flurry of activity this week I am very pleased to announce that we have just launched our Just Giving Page.
http://www.justgiving.com/Challenge-521
Please give what you can - it is for a very worthwhile cause and the money donated via the link will go straight to the charity and will start benefitting millions of cancer sufferers throughout the UK.
All of this has been made possible this week by the very generous donation from the Mark Evison Foundation. Due to the donation we are now able to focus entirely on raising money for charity so any donations given are very appreciated.
We will be back with more news when we have any... lots of things in the pipeline!
ps for anybody in Reading be sure to check out p.42 of the Reading Evening Post, or look at their website
http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2108072_five_pals_take_on_channel_swim
http://www.justgiving.com/Challenge-521
Please give what you can - it is for a very worthwhile cause and the money donated via the link will go straight to the charity and will start benefitting millions of cancer sufferers throughout the UK.
All of this has been made possible this week by the very generous donation from the Mark Evison Foundation. Due to the donation we are now able to focus entirely on raising money for charity so any donations given are very appreciated.
We will be back with more news when we have any... lots of things in the pipeline!
ps for anybody in Reading be sure to check out p.42 of the Reading Evening Post, or look at their website
http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2108072_five_pals_take_on_channel_swim
Friday, 10 February 2012
Fantastic news!
Today we have made two huge leaps forward in our channel swim project. Firstly came the news that we had been included in The Reading Post with a very flattering article and slightly less flattering picture of us all! We are hoping this will help to generate some more interest in the challenge and may even lead to some more fundraising opportunities. Either way, it is excellent exposure for us and we really hope this is just the beginning of our publicity campaign - This Morning here we come!
We are also very pleased to announce that we have been awarded an extremely generous £2000 from the Mark Evison Foundation. Three of us made the trip down to Dulwich, South London last Friday for an interview just days after we'd put our application in. It was quite an informal process, though stressful nevertheless. We were asked all about the project, our motivations, evidence of our dedication to the challenge and also the practicalities of the swim itself. I think most of all we showed our overwhelming enthusiasm for the whole thing, from the planning, to the training and all the way to the completion of the challenge. They have given us some leaflets and posters to use whenever we talk about the project and we are hoping to receive some t-shirts to be worn at future events, so look out for lots of Mark Evison Foundation information coming your way in the next few months!
We have also been told by Izzy, our resident slave driver, that we all have to commence structured, specific land training. I think we've all said at some point that it's easy to forget about the actual swimming part of the project when you're all caught up in the fundraising, but I think it's going to be completely unavoidable
from now on! I'm definitely not starting on the regular cold showers just yet though!
We'll keep you all updated on any more progress, thanks already to everyone who has supported us so far!
We are also very pleased to announce that we have been awarded an extremely generous £2000 from the Mark Evison Foundation. Three of us made the trip down to Dulwich, South London last Friday for an interview just days after we'd put our application in. It was quite an informal process, though stressful nevertheless. We were asked all about the project, our motivations, evidence of our dedication to the challenge and also the practicalities of the swim itself. I think most of all we showed our overwhelming enthusiasm for the whole thing, from the planning, to the training and all the way to the completion of the challenge. They have given us some leaflets and posters to use whenever we talk about the project and we are hoping to receive some t-shirts to be worn at future events, so look out for lots of Mark Evison Foundation information coming your way in the next few months!
We have also been told by Izzy, our resident slave driver, that we all have to commence structured, specific land training. I think we've all said at some point that it's easy to forget about the actual swimming part of the project when you're all caught up in the fundraising, but I think it's going to be completely unavoidable
from now on! I'm definitely not starting on the regular cold showers just yet though!
We'll keep you all updated on any more progress, thanks already to everyone who has supported us so far!
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