Cross Channel Swimmers Half Way to £10,000 Target

London, United Kingdom, March 16, 2007 --(PR.com)-- A team of local people training for a gruelling relay swim of the English Channel for children’s charity NCH are half way to their sponsorship target of £10,000.

The Team Cedric Channel Swimmers – named after NCH mascot Cedric the Dragon – say that reaching the £5000 mark has given them a major boost as they prepare for the arduous swim between Shakespeare’s Cliff near Dover and Cap Gris Nez near Calais between 7 and 14 July 2007.

Steve Holder (44) and Tony Hanlon (35) from Nuneaton, Corinne Thorpe (31) from Leamington Spa and Colin Henshaw (42) from Hinckley are undergoing a tough training regime at Pingles Leisure Centre near Nuneaton and at Bosworth Water Trust on Wellsborough Road near Nuneaton.

The team are taking on the challenge of the Channel’s strong tides and cold waters for NCH’s West Midlands Every Child Matters Appeal, which is focusing on issues including poverty, disability and abuse, and aims to raise £300,000 for NCH’s local services that work with over 20,000 children and teenagers.

Steve Holder, team leader, said: “Thank you to everyone who has sponsored us so far. Reaching £5000 is fantastic and we’re more determined than ever to succeed in our cross Channel swim. Every pound we can raise for NCH’s vital work with vulnerable and disadvantaged children makes a difference, so please keep the sponsorship coming in and help us reach our £10,000 target.”

Steve’s employer, Severn Trent Water in Leicester, has generously offered to match sponsorship up to £1000.

Local NCH services across the West Midlands are set to benefit. A fifth swimmer, Steve Dunn (34) from Nuneaton, is tackling the swim to raise money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Claire Morris, NCH Regional Fundraising Manager, said: “We’re all very inspired by the Team Cedric Channel Swimmers. I’d like to urge people to support them. Nationally NCH works with more children and teenagers than any other charity, and support like this makes a tremendous difference to what we can achieve.”

The swimmers can be sponsored online at www.justgiving.com/teamcedric. Alternatively contact NCH Regional Fundraiser Elinor Martin on 0121 321 5180 or write to Cross Channel Swim, ‘Every Child Matters Appeal’, NCH, 8 Mill Street, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands B72 1TJ. Please make cheques payable to NCH.

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Notes to editors
1. NCH is one of the UK’s leading children’s charities, working in partnership to run nearly 500 services for more than 160,000 of the UK’s most vulnerable children, young people and their families. For further information visit www.nch.org.uk.
2. NCH was previously known as National Children's Home. It re-branded in 2002 to become NCH, the children's charity.