A team of Brockenhurst College students is set to celebrate the College’s Centenary year by taking on the challenge of a Channel Swim and raising money for an established charity.
The 22-mile relay will take place in August - six plucky students will swim from Dover to Calais in a target time of 14 hours. They will take it in turn to swim, supported by a dedicated team boat throughout the crossing.
The group, who have named themselves Aspire Team Brock, will become the first College team to complete this challenge. Training is already underway with a rigorous schedule in all weathers to ensure they are fit and ready. In addition, each student has to raise £1,500 and they are all working hard to reach this target – as well as securing pledges from friends and family, they are holding various fundraising events in the coming weeks to bring in the necessary money. Anyone wishing to donate can visit www.justgiving.com/TeamBrock
The monies raised will support the renowned Aspire charity, which provides practical support to the 40,000 people with a spinal cord injury in the UK, helping them to lead fulfilled and independent lives. The charity, established in 1982 has been organising annual Channel Swims since 2009 and sees a variety of teams from across the UK participate each year.
The initial team of eight students has been named as: Libby Pardoe, Isobel Pope, Hannah Stevenson, Rose Wright, Simon Price, Ali Rogers, Cianan Mann and Adam Gough. They are all keen athletes but none has attempted anything like this before. However, Libby Pardoe has already achieved success in a swimming initiative undertaken last year.
Libby was a finalist in The Sun’s Millie’s Awards for swimming in support of the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment. She successfully swam a total of 268 miles, one for each day the Regiment spent in Afghanistan, raising money for soldiers’ medical treatment.
Libby says of her latest challenge: “I want to do the Channel swim for three reasons: to raise money for Aspire to help people who have sustained spinal injury; to achieve my personal ambition to swim the Channel; and to share the experience with my College friends to achieve something that has never been done before.”
Fundraising and Marketing Director at Aspire, Paul Parrish said: “We are delighted that the students of Brockenhurst College are taking on this iconic challenge to raise much needed funds. Swimming the Channel is a huge undertaking for anyone and these teenagers are tremendous role models to everyone at the College and within the local community. All of us at Aspire wish them the very best of luck and will spend the money they raise wisely, helping people with spinal cord injury lead independent lives. I hope the public will generously support their bravery and dedication.”
Principal of Brockenhurst College, Di Roberts said: “This challenge shows immense dedication and courage from our students and is an excellent way to start our Centenary celebrations. The College will be cheering them with every stroke they make and with every pound they raise for charity. They are truly great ambassadors and I will be tremendously proud as we see them off from Dover in August. I am also so very grateful to the staff and parents who are supporting them in this once-in-a-life-time adventure.”