Woman takes on Channel swim for veterans' cause

Helen Jenkins is set to tackle her English Channel swim in July

A woman from Surrey is to swim the English Channel to raise funds for a veterans' charity.

Helen Jenkins from Godalming will swim the 21 miles (33.7km) between Dover and France in July.

She will be raising funds for five charities, including the RAF Benevolent Fund, and Charlie's Promise, a Surrey-based anti-knife crime charity.

She said she was taking on the challenge in memory of her grandfather William Forth, an RAF flight engineer.

She said: "My grandfather was killed in the Second World War, which left his wife with three young children to raise, one of whom was my dad Peter.

"I lost dad three years ago, so I wanted to give back to the Fund to help anyone that may lose a family member in the same way my dad did back on 5 May 1943."

Ms Jenkins has been training for the swim over the past two years

She has been in training for two years, including several swim camps in Dover, and has already raised over £2,800 for her charities.

"The challenge will involve approximately 15 and a half hours of non-stop swimming" she explained, "but could be longer depending on conditions and fatigue – or equally less for the same reasons.

"There are only 1,881 people who have swum the Channel so this is a huge challenge that only has a 60% success rate, but I am enjoying the journey to the start line and just hope that everything aligns on the day to get me across the Channel.

"I'm looking forward to touching the sand in France."

Ms Jenkins is also raising funds for Dementia UK, Young Minds and Pleasant Valley Camp.