North East charity boss swims Channel for refugees

Duncan McAuley expects the crossing to take up to 15 hours

The head of a refugee charity will swim the English Channel to raise awareness of the dangers facing thousands of asylum seekers making the same journey.

Last year 28,000 people attempted to cross to the UK and it is warned the figure could reach 60,000 this year.

The boss of Newcastle and Sunderland-based Action Foundation will swim from Dover to Calais with four friends.

Duncan McAuley said it would take up to 15 hours and he would have to "keep reminding myself why we're doing this".

It would probably get dark while they were swimming and he would have to "keep telling myself to keep going to reach the end", he said.

The team hopes to raise money for the charity, which helps refugees with housing, English teaching, inclusion and advice.

It is warned the number making the perilous journey could reach 60,000 this year

Mr McAuley, who has been training at Saltburn beach near his home in Stockton, said the team would have a safety boat and a pilot with crew.

"We'll be really well looked after," he said.

"I can't imagine what it would be like making the journey, perhaps knowing nobody else on the boat, at the hands of a people smuggler, going in the other direction."

Mr McAuley said at least 150 refugees had died crossing the Channel in the past five years.

The team wants to raise awareness of "the individual lives at stake, their hopes, ambitions, fears and memories", he said.

The attempt will be made on either 25 or 26 May depending on sea and weather conditions.

Ten per cent of the money raised will be donated to the RNLI, "in recognition of their amazing work rescuing people from the Channel", the charity said.