On Sunday 12th August 2018, Roger and his three sons Paul, Alex and Julian will be taking part in the four mile River Arun swim. They say:

We are swimming the River Arun as a family because we saw it as a great opportunity to commemorate the life of our much-loved grandfather Norman Glover, who passed away in January 2018. As a younger man Norman had been a keen outdoorsman and he was a particularly committed cyclist, walker and swimmer.

We are taking on the River Arun as a family team of four. We love swimming and try to seize as many opportunities to swim as we can, not only in the UK but around the world. The first big undertaking we took as a team was a four day canoeing trip down an Artic salmon river in Norway, during which we tried swimming in a snow-melt salmon river. However, the lead swimmer was only able to stay in the close-to-zero temperature waters for five seconds, so the others decided not to attempt it! We are also avid summer holiday coastal swimmers in Spain and in the UK we have been wild swimming in several rivers, including the Thames and Wey.

We decided to swim for Aspire because 18 months before Norman passed away he sustained a spinal cord injury. Norman was at Pinderfields Spinal Unit and we were really impressed at the dedicated care that he received. Even once Norman had been discharged, his post-discharge physiotherapy continued to be an important part of his life. Norman showed great resilience in coming to terms with what had happened to him. During this time we became aware of the holistic and dedicated care given by professionals and volunteers to people who have sustained a spinal cord injury. We also saw the motivational ability of carers who provided support and encourage people to live successfully with their injuries.

Swimming is something that we really enjoy and being able to raise money for Aspire who help people paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury means a great deal to us. We are delighted with our fundraising efforts and have been impressed by people’s generosity. Our current total is around £1,000 and is still increasing.

Sponsor Alex, who at 17 is the youngest member of the team

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