Sink or swim? Charles Russell Speechlys team swims the River Arun

Sixteen enthusiastic swimmers from Charles Russell Speechlys took the plunge and decided to swim part of the River Arun to raise money for Carers Trust. This tidal adventure took place last Saturday in the picturesque town of Arundel. The team were joined by Giles Meyer from Carers Trust and were cheered on by colleagues, friends and family.

The idea was thought up by two Partners, David Berry and Andrew Collins, who said: “After taking part in the Welsh 3000s weekend last year, we were looking for another activity and challenge - different from climbing mountains - that would appeal, perhaps to a slightly different audience in the firm, and act as an eye-catching fundraiser. Despite - or because of- our desk jobs, lawyers are an intrepid bunch - especially at Charles Russell Speechlys!!  David is an experienced open water swimmer, and I have taken it up over the last few years. Importantly, it was not a race. A friend, John at Swimquest, also runs an excellent and safe swim-guiding company.”

"We aimed to raise £5,000 for the Carers Trust from this one event and thanks to our supporters’ generosity and matched funding we have doubled this."

Hannah Connors an Associate who took part said: “ The event was a great success. Swimming 6.5k up a river is certainly a challenge but we were lucky to be doing so in beautiful scenery, with gorgeous sunny weather, a great team of supporters and the knowledge that our fundraising efforts were contributing to a very worthy cause. Friends, family and other contacts have been incredibly generous in supporting us in this challenge. We aimed to raise £5,000 for the Carers Trust from this one event and thanks to our supporters’ generosity and matched funding we have doubled this. Carers Trust resonates with a huge number of people, whether they are carers now, have carers within their family, or are all too aware that they are likely to be carers in the future. They may also have questioned our sanity at times, probably because swimming 6.5km down a river is a pretty unusual and demanding way to spend a Saturday morning!

Carers Trust was chosen as our charity of the year because of its commitment to giving real support to people who are caring, unpaid, for friends, partners or family members who are ill, frail, disabled or suffer from mental health issues. I went along to a talk given by a couple of carers who regularly used the local Carers Trust centre in Camden and I was very moved by their stories and the hugely positive impact the local centre had had on their quality of life as well as on their relationship with the person they were caring for. Having toyed with the idea of the River Arun swim prior to the talk, I told one of the speakers that they had convinced me to sign up. Having made that promise I had to go through with it!”