Prep school pupils from Bournemouth Collegiate School have swum from Poole to Cherbourg (and a bit more!) in order to raise vital funs for the YMCA, to help combat homelessness in their local community.

Students undertook the event to support World Homelessness Day, helping the YMCA to get homeless people into temporary accommodation, and to support them to gain the skills and self-confidence they need to move forward in an independent and meaningful way.

Pupils were sponsored to swim 33.8km (or 1690 lengths of the school pool!) but managed to exceed their target as between staff and students they swam a massive 134.5km (4,751 lengths)! For an entire week, every pupil in their swimming lesson swam in a continuous relay with their peers to clock up the distance. Staff also helped keep the tally up with a couple of early morning swimming sessions.

This tremendous effort by the School community raised a staggering almost £1,400 but the hope that the pupils' incredible feat will inspire generosity of all kinds in the wider community.

Kay Smith, Head of BCS Prep explained: "This was a fantastic effort by the BCS pupils to support homelessness. As the winter days become increasingly bitter we are all more acutely aware of the difficulties facing the homeless and we aim to encourage the children to think about the impact of being homeless and consider what it would be like not to have a safe place to live. Raising their awareness in this way, and showing them just how they can make a difference, will hopefully instil a longstanding consideration and empathy for those in difficult circumstances."

Powered by Pressburst | Terms & Privacy