A LLANGATTOCK woman has swum a mile of the international swimming pool in Newport to raise money for two charities.
Lucy Williams, the daughter of Geoff and Lorna Williams of the Ffawyddog, Llangattock, had planned to swim 50 lengths of Newport’s 25-metre pool but during the challenge she was told by lifeguards that 64 lengths would mean she had swum a mile so she kept going and reached that.
Initially she intended to raise funds for Can Do, the youth disability branch of the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, which provides volunteering opportunities for young people with disabilities. Lucy has been associated with the Leonard Cheshire Home at Llanhennock, near Caerleon, since becoming a befriender there.
However when she heard the sad news that her sister Cerys’s husband Jamie had been diagnosed with Parkinsons, Lucy decided she would also raise money for that cause.
In total from her swim Lucy raised £1,400. Of this she donated £1,000 to the Parkinsons society for research and £400 to Can Do.
Lucy, who has Downs syndrome, has previously taken part in three other charity swims in 2009, 2012 and 2015, which raised between them a total of over £1,800. From that, Marie Curie Cancer Care, BBC Children in Need, Welsh Air Ambulance and Can Do all benefitted.