As you may remember, Alderley Edge & Bollin Valley Rotary Club was one of the organisations involved in the planning of the Alderley Edge By Pass Walk in October 2010, and hosted the very successful presentation of the cheques in December that year. Until last year we also ran a swimathon each Autumn, which has raised over £110,000 since we started it in 1995. However, this year we had to cancel the event as we could not get enough people to swim in the event.
As the number of teams entering has dwindled in recent years we were going to call time on the event but before we make such a decision, we thought it might be appropriate to invite all of the people who either benefitted or participated in the bypass walk to a meeting to see if they would be willing to support our club and get this excellent fundraiser back off the ground for next year, or alternatively start a new fundraising event with more support from local people like yourselves.
For those who have not actually been to a swimathon, this is a fun event for all ages and abilities: participants swim in teams of 6 and can include those that can manage only a few lengths as well as those who can swim miles! The entrants can put in as many teams as they wish and of course the more teams you have, the more money you can raise for your good cause as half of everything you raise goes to your own organisation or chosen charity – whatever it may be - and half goes to the Rotary Club who will distribute it between local charities that we are able to support. The Rotarians in our club are happy to run the event, but we don't have access to enough swimmers.
For this reason we would like to invite you to a meeting on Thursday, 19th September at 7pm at St. Phillips and St. James Church Hall (behind the church), on Church Lane (off Ryleys Lane), when we can explain how you could help us to get the swimathon going again in 2014.
Please email me or call me on 07802 944291 by Monday 16th September, if you are interested in taking part in this event next year and also if you are able to attend on the 19th September.
Member post by Andrew Henshall.
