There are four of us in our team: John, Nicki, Paul and myself.  I am a carer by trade and I met John and Nicki while I was working for the council 30 years ago. Paul and his wife Larraine have been friends for over 50 years.

John has MS and is in a wheelchair. I have been caring for him for 30 years so he’s part of the family now. Nicki has Cerebral Palsy and is also in a wheelchair and we have been friends for 30 years too. Paul has Parkinsons which makes his walking and co-ordination very difficult and we have been friends for over 50 years.

I can’t remember how I discovered the Aspire Leisure Centre but it is an amazing place for disabled people. I bring Paul on a Tuesday and he loves to be able to walk and swim in the warm water. It re-energises him and his wife has noticed a huge difference in his mental health as well as his physical wellbeing since I have been taking him.  John was the first friend I brought to Aspire to use the pool, some ten years ago, and he benefits tremendously from our weekly swim and exercise on a Thursday.

Nicki comes with me on a Friday and it was her that saw the advert for the Aspire Channel Swim challenge and was very keen to do it. When I looked into it for her, I soon realised that it would be too much for her to complete because she has no control of her arms and they spasm most of the time. She has little control of her legs but works hard to get them to work. She can swim on her back wearing a rubber ring but I need to support her most of the time due to her spasms. She can normally swim 12 lengths in the 45 minutes that we are there so I thought that we could never complete the challenge in the time. Then I thought, if we got John and Paul involved too then we had a good chance. They didn't take much persuading and I realised that as I had to take and support them as they couldn't swim without me, then my lengths would count too! Luckily I have always enjoyed swimming - at 75 years old I am much slower but a good support for my friends.

Since starting the challenge in September, the team has shown renewed enthusiasm for their efforts. Nicki now usually swims 25 lengths a week, John used to do 12 and now does at least 20 and Paul does over 30. Together with my contributions we are achieving around 150 lengths a week and the difference it is making to my friends is very noticeable. Lots of people that we see in the pool are very supportive of us all and make our visits very enjoyable. It has given John, Nicki and Paul a huge morale boost and sense of achievement.  Since September we have swum over 17 miles, so we are sure we can finish the 22 miles by the end of December, if not before.

The Aspire Leisure Centre is an amazing place for anyone with a disability and helps to bring people together and face their life challenges. As a team, we are very grateful to have the Centre to use and are so pleased to be able to raise money in this way to help them support more people in need, particularly those with spinal injuries.

Sponsor Jan and the team

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