In the swim for charity fund-raiser

21 August 2019

A Derbyshire Police officer is embarking on a swimming challenge never attempted before to raise money for three charities close to his heart.

Karl Jackson, who is based in the roads policing unit at Ripley, will be swimming across Cardigan Bay in Wales on 27 August as part of a relay team which also includes retired PC 1206 Clint Profitt and friend Dan Brook-Sutton.

The trio developed The Cardigan Bay Challenge which will involve swimming from Barmouth to Abersoch, a distance of 22.6 miles, to raise money for Plastic Oceans, the RNLI and the Derbyshire Air Ambulance.

Having taken part in triathlons and swim-run events, they say they have never tried anything as challenging as this event. They estimate it will take them 10 to 12 hours to complete the challenge and at times they will be around 10 miles out to sea.

The three fund-raisers have trained both in the pool and in open water and will be accompanied by safety kayaks and a rest boat.

“This is going to be a huge challenge that has never been attempted before,” says Karl, “But I hope we can successfully cover the distance and get a lot of support to raise money for the charities.

"We want to raise as much as possible but also raise awareness about plastic pollution which has becoming increasingly alarming over the past few years.”

The challenge was originally scheduled for 10 August but was re-scheduled due to bad weather and on the advice of the RNLI.

Donate to the fund-raising appeal or find out more.