A GIRL Guide from Tavistock has signed up to swim the 22 mile distance of the English Channel in order to help raise in excess of £500,000 for one of the UK?s leading spinal cord injury charities ASPIRE. On September 17 Charlotte Mellor from Tavistock is joining the ASPIRE Channel swim for the third time this year. Charlotte, 12, who is a member of Tavistock Swimming Club, will swim the distance in her local pool Meadowlands and must complete the challenge in 12 weeks by December 9. Charlotte, who attends Plymouth High School, swims for her squad four times a week and she has been swimming and competing for many years. The youngster is calling for people from Tavistock to join her in the swim to raise money for the charity. Forty thousand people in Britain have a spinal cord injury. There is no cure for a spinal cord injury. Accidents resulting in spinal cord injuries usually mean being paralysed for life. Charlotte?s mum Claire: ?Charlotte is using the challenge this year to raise awareness and funds for ASPIRE, it is important for children to be aware of other people with disabilities. ?Charlotte is also taking part to help her gain her Baden Powell Badge at Guides, which is the highest award she can achieve.? For 12 weeks swimming pools across the country will open their doors to hundreds of swimmers who are either swimming the distance on their own, like Charlotte, or by splitting the distance between a group of friends. The ASPIRE Channel Swim is now in its ninth year. Many people will be swimming in a bid to keep fit and lose a few pounds. Every year hundreds of school children, Brownies, Guides, Cubs and Scouts will also join in. Numerous families also swim the event together. ASPIRE?s Jenny Page said: ?The ASPIRE Channel Swim is the biggest fundraising event in the charity?s calendar as it raises a substantial amount of urgently needed funding for people with spinal cord injuries and help us in our mission to enable them to lead more independent and fulfilled lives.? To take part in the ASPIRE Channel Swim please contact Rosie Cotton, ASPIRE Channel Swim, Freepost Ang40106, Stanmore, HA7 4BR, freephone 08000 370 880 or log onto http://www.aspirechannelswim.co.uk">www.aspirechannelswim.co.uk.
