Plans get underway for Horsham Lions Club's 13th annual Swimarathon fundraiser

The event – held at The Pavilions in Horsham Park – is the club’s biggest annual event and over the past 12 years has raised a whopping

£72,000 which has been donated to a number of local schools, organisations and charities.

The 2024 Swimarathon takes place on Sunday March 24 starting at 11am and the closing date for entries is February 6 2024.

Any teams wanting to enter can email Lion David Trowbridge on [email protected] for an entry form and information pack or see Horsham Lions website: www.horshamlions.freeuk.com

In 2024 the Swimarathon is supporting, for the second consecutive year, the Horsham and Crawley Branch of The Samaritans who are celebrating the 51st anniversary of their launch.

The Samaritans charity makes a big impact on the local community in Horsham. Branch director Jacqui Clark says: “Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy. The Samaritans’ vision is that fewer people die by suicide.”

Horsham and Crawley Branch alone have 92 active listening volunteers who have taken 16,472 calls from people who are experiencing a whole host of different issues, ranging from being lonely, anxious, isolated, bereaved or suicidal.

Horsham Lions say that a donation of £400 enables the Samaritans to buy new T Shirts, fleeces and jackets for new volunteers to wear at outreach events; £500 enables them to train12 new volunteers; £600 buys individual headsets for new volunteers and £800 will enable them to refurbish their face to face listening room before welcoming back members of the public.

Swimarathon teams can consist of people aged eight to 70 upwards. The team can include up to six swimmers plus an adult non-swimming team captain.

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The first team member swims one length of the pool and then rests while the other members take turns to swim a length of 25 metres.The first swimmer then swims again and so on, for 55 minutes.

The first teams start swimming at 11am with other teams starting on the hour until 3pm when the last teams start their swim. Eight teams can be accommodated each hour.

A Lions spokesperson said: “These timings will be confirmed nearer the date of the event when we know the numbers of teams taking part.”