This autumn I will be taking part in Swim Marathon by swimming a half marathon of 21km to help raise funds for the 1 in 10 people who don't have clean water close to home.
Clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene should be a normal part of everyone's daily life. Without all three, people can't live dignified, healthy lives. With all three, they can unlock their potential, break free from poverty and change their lives for good.
With clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene, children are born healthier. They get the chance to go to school and grow up to become adults. Women and men get to earn a living. Whole communities start to thrive.
It sounds normal and it should be.
I am using this challenge to improve my swimming distances and speed to allow me to swim further in the water in the winter months and allow me to improve my own fitness levels too. However it is much more than improving my fitness, it is about how I take clean water to drink and swim in for granted where there are so many people in this world with neither. Supporting a charity like Water Aid I am supporting communities help themselves get out of poverty.
If you would like to support me in this challenge, please feel free to donate through the link here.
Follow me on Instagram and keep your eye out on my stories to see how I am progressing.
So far I have swam 7.6Km out of the 21K needed, here are some of the highlights from those swims.