Ammal Usman

Making Waves This October: My Swim for Charity

October is my birthday month, and this year I wanted to mark it a little differently. Instead of just celebrating with cake (though I’ll definitely still do that), I’m challenging myself to swim 8 kilometers. That’s 320 lengths of a 25m pool, over the month of October.

If you know me, you’ll know I’ve always loved the water. Swimming has been a joy for me for as long as I can remember, but life doesn’t always leave me with as much time for it as I’d like. When I do get in the water, I feel calmer, more present, and more connected to myself.

Normally, I’d also be in the ocean or at the beach, but with the colder weather rolling in, that’s not as easy right now. I thought why not take this as an opportunity and give it even more purpose by tying it to something bigger than myself.

So this October, I’ll be swimming 8km for a charity close to my heart. Every lap I swim is both time for me to enjoy something I love, and a step toward raising money and awareness for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Charity.

Childhood is special. It should be a time of joy, wonder, curiosity and fun. Of making friends, making mistakes, and growing into the adults we become. But it’s also fragile, and sometimes all too brief.

That’s why Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity raises funds to help give seriously ill children childhoods that are fuller, funner and longer. For the children from all over the UK who are treated by Great Ormond Street Hospital every day, for children with rare or complex illnesses everywhere, for this generation and all those to come. Because no childhood should be lost to serious illness.

And with every kilometre I swim, and every pound raised, we’ll be helping to give seriously ill children the best chance and the best childhood possible.

It is the perfect combination:

🎂 celebrating my birthday month

🏊 giving time to something I truly enjoy

💙 and doing it for a cause that matters

I’ll be sharing my progress along the way, and if you’d like to support me (or just cheer me on), it would mean so much. 

Together, we can turn a personal challenge into something that makes a real difference.