Charity Swimalong - Oct 2017

Charity Swimalong

The venue was the West Wickham Leisure Centre. The time was 8.30 am on Sunday morning 8th October when the first of 27 intrepid volunteers jumped into the swimming pool in an attempt to swim a marathon for charity. The last swimmers who were still going at 12.00 noon, had to be asked to finish and leave the pool, so the lanes could be re-opened to the public.

Each swimmer nominated their personal target of how many lengths of the 33 metre pool they thought they would manage.

After all the individual achievemnts were added up a grand total of over 36,000 metres was recorded, which amounted to about 85% of a full marathon.

Each swimmer was thanked and congratulated by President Peter, presented with a medal and a certificate of achievement and, more to the point perhaps, a fresh warming coffee from Prima Donnas and a croisant donated by local bakers, Sponge Kitchen.

The charity that we supported was Fighting Poverty in Zambia, who will now benefit from about £1,400 raised by the generous sponsorship of our 27 volunteers, possibly to be augmented by a district grant from the Rotary International Foundation.

Our thanks to the management of the West Wickham Leisure Centre, who generously donated the use of two lanes in the pool for the exclusive use of this charity event.

Congratulations and our sincere thanks to the swimmers who took part in this event and of course, to their sponsors.

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A selelection of photos of the event

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At our club meeting on 15th February, Rotary Beckenham presented a cheque for nearly £2,800 to Chris Boulton, representing the charity Fighting Poverty in Zambia. The funds were raised at the Swimalong at West Wickham Leisure Centre on 8 October last year.

The money will be used to fund a rabbit breeding programme in Zambia to provide much needed protein into the diet and to reduce poverty in Tikondane, Eastern Province.

Rotary Beckenham is already planning a second Swimalong on 30 September this year. Full details, including the chosen charity, to follow.