I have the most amazing Mum. In addition to being the most beautiful person I know, and always being there for everyone, she’s undertaking a huge challenge this month.

In fact, as I write this, at 8am on a snowy Sunday in March, she is on her way to the swimming pool to clock up lengths. Yesterday alone she did 130! That’s 3,250 metres! WOW! This is all because she has challenged herself all this month to swim a marathon distance – that’s 26.2 miles (a whopping 42,195 metres, or something like 1,703 lengths of a regular 25 metre pool) all within a month. The very thought would fill me with dread, but she’s doing amazingly!

I’ve joined her on a couple of swims so far and have been so impressed by her drive – she just hops in and off she goes, no stopping, no kicking off from either end, just up and down, up and down. I’ve never been a keen swimmer but have managed 40 lengths each time by just following behind her and that was pretty challenging and I wasn’t even having to keep count. My legs were so wobbly just after that distance so I daren’t think how she’s managing to do so much!

Why is she putting herself though this I hear you ask. Good question, especially since the weather is far from spring-like, and early morning and late evening trips to the pool can’t be much fun. Well, let me tell you…

13 years ago my beautiful cousin Mark was born with a rare liver disease. It is likely that he will need a transplant at some point, though to look at him you wouldn’t realise. He is singularly the most positive and strong character I think I’ve ever met and has the cheekiest of smiles!

The Children’s Liver Disease Foundation do vital work in supporting families such as Mark’s, and in researching liver diseases in all their forms.

As a family, we’ve done lots of fundraising for this cause so close to our hearts over the past 12 years, from triathlons to bake sales. Mum’s epic challenge is the latest, and perhaps the biggest so far!

It’s for that reason that I am posting this here. In the hopes that some of you reading this can spare some pennies for this worthwhile cause.

Please help with any amount, however small. I know one little boy, and his family, for whom it really will make a difference.

You can sponsor online via her JustGiving page. Don’t forget to tick the box if you’re a UK tax payer as we’ll get an extra little bit for every pound you donate.

Thanks!
xx

Photo credit: NontrivialMatt / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND