Castle Leisure Centre to host Swimathon for Sport Relief!

The world’s biggest fundraising swimming event is coming to Bury, with local swimmers being encouraged to take part in the Swimathon challenge at Castle Leisure Centre to raise funds for Sport Relief.

Swimathon 2016 will take place between Friday 18 and Sunday 20 March and thousands of people across the UK are expected to take the plunge and swim themselves proud.

More than 600 venues the length and breadth of the UK will be hosting sessions, including Castle Leisure Centre on Bolton Street in Bury.

Paul Wilcock, Aquatics Development Officer for Bury Leisure, said: “Swimathon gives people a goal to train for, an extra reason to get in the pool and above all else, it helps raise money for a truly fantastic cause.

All levels of abilities and ages are accounted for as individuals can choose from 1.5k, 2.5k or 5k distance challenges, whereas those who prefer a group challenge can form a relay team with family, friends and colleagues to take on either the 1.5k or 5k.

Ten-year-old Allanah Pollard from Ramsbottom signed up to the 2.5k challenge with her mum, saying: “I want to be able to raise money for a worthwhile cause and give myself a challenge.”

Swimathon is a nationwide swimming challenge that has been encouraging swimmers to take on a distance challenge since its very first event in 1986. In those 30 years, more than half a million swimmers have taken part in Swimathon at their local pool and raised more than £40m for charitable causes.

Enter Swimathon today at www.Swimathon.org and the first 80 people will receive a free I Will If You Will branded swim cap.

To find out more about I Will If You Will, the Bury-based female fitness movement, go to www.iwillifyouwill.co.uk

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About I Will If You Will

I Will If You Will is focused on changing women and girls’ behaviours towards taking part in sport and physical activity with the aim of getting more women and girls being more active, more often, and helping improve the health and wellbeing of people in Bury.

It aims to overcome the many practical and emotional barriers to being active, while encouraging women to support each other by joining the I Will If You Will community.

The phase one campaign (2013 – 14) was delivered by Bury Council with £2.3 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England.For the phase two campaign (2015 – 16), Sport England has allocated a further £2 million to extend delivery.

The successful IWIYW pilot campaign identified valuable insight and helped develop the foundations for Sport England’s national This Girl Can campaign, which launched in January 2015, as well as Sport England’s practical guide to helping women and girls get active (www.sportengland.org/womenandgirls).