Record breaking amount of swimmers raise thousands for charities across borough

Record numbers of swimmers made a big splash for charity in Lynn and Hunstanton at the weekend as they took part in an epic Rotary Swimarathon.The annual event is organised by King’s Lynn Priory and Hunstanton District Rotary Clubs.A total of 51 teams of up to six swimmers took part in the event covering a combined total of 7,600 lengths of the 25-metre pools, a distance of nearly 120 miles, while raising money for their chosen charities

Teams included youngsters from West Norfolk Autism Group, Little Miracles, Little Discoverers and the Lavender Hill Mob Theatre Group, as well as many fantastic members of West Norfolk Swimming Club who entered 12 teams.In addition to about £15,000 raised by the swimmers, a further £7,000 was contributed from the generous sponsorship of local businesses, leaving the Rotaries with over £21,000 after costs.The funds will be presented to the charities at presentation evenings in Lynn on March 1 and at Hunstanton on a date to be confirmed.

Charities entering teams and benefiting from the event included the Gateway Café, the Norfolk Hospice, Break Childrens Homes, the Purfleet Trust, West Norfolk Autism Group, Norfolk and Waveney Mind, West Norfolk Riding for the Disabled, Little Discoverers, West Norfolk Community Transport, the QEH Rehab Unit, Little Miracles, the Lavender Hill Mob Theatre Company, the 8:56 Foundation, West Norfolk Tennis for Health, Mr Bees, and Scarlett Cole’s CP Journey.Ken Banks, heading up the event at King’s Lynn, paid a special thank you to the pool staff from Alive Leisure, to all the volunteers on the day and to the main sponsors Adrian Flux at King’s Lynn and Specsavers at Hunstanton.He said “It was a fantastic day with a great atmosphere of fun and enthusiasm from all who took part.“At the end of the day, the amounts raised for charity were well beyond our expectations, making the whole event incredibly worthwhile.”

Next year’s events are provisionally booked for Saturday, February 8, where the Rotaries hope that the total raised this year can yet again be surpassed by swimmers.