Blake 4W

Day 12 … HE DID IT

8km plus change completed! Huge congratulations to our boy. What an achievement! 💙

Even more impressive considering I’ve been a bit under the weather lately and had to drag myself out on Friday night to take Blake to the pool. But it was absolutely worth it to see him finish what he started.

In total, Blake powered through 44 × 25m lengths, bringing his charity swim challenge to a brilliant finish. Determined, focused, and smiling all the way — we couldn’t be prouder.

A very special mention goes to my dear friend Sharon, whose generous support pushed Blake’s fundraising total past £900! Thank you so much for helping him get so close to his goal.

Now we’re wondering… dare we dream of hitting £1,000? Every bit of support means the world and goes toward helping the incredible work done by Great Ormond Street Hospital.

And if you thought this was the end of our swimming pool adventures — not quite! Blake still has a London League swimming final with his school this Wednesday, so the goggles aren’t being packed away just yet. 🏅

Well done, son. We’re incredibly proud of you. 💙

Day 11

What started as a day of good intention quickly slipped into McDonald’s for dinner and Xbox on a school night. Not exactly the picture of discipline you might expect in the final stages of preparing for an 8km charity swim…

For the record, I’d like to point out that this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Blake’s mum went out tonight and I was left in charge. Pure coincidence. Entirely unrelated.

In much more impressive news, Blake has now passed the £850 fundraising target, with a few more pledges still coming in. 

Tomorrow we finish this!!

Day 10

No swimming 🏊🏽‍♂️ today. Wednesday is officially our rest day! It’s also Grandma Day, and Blake has been busy practising the piano at Grandma’s 👵🏾 for his upcoming second grading and a mini concert at school later this month.

Even on a rest day, there’s still reason to celebrate! We received some wonderful donations today. A special thank you goes to Cathy, my friend and work colleague of 26 years your support means so much.

I’m thrilled to share that thanks to all your generosity, we have now passed the £800 mark in our fundraising for GOSH. 

Blake may be back in the pool tomorrow, we will make a decision after school!! But today, it’s all about rest, family, and music!

Day 9

Different day, different pool same massive effort.

A whopping 82 × 25m lengths completed tonight as Blake continues his 8km March swim challenge in support of Great Ormond Street Hospital. The determination he’s showing each session is brilliant to see.

We’ve had a trickle of donations today, and a very kind pledge from one of our neighbours, which means we are now agonisingly close to the £800 mark.

Even better, we are almost at the full 8km target. Just one more push and Blake will have done it.

As always thank you to everyone who has supported him so far the encouragement and donations really do keep him going when the lengths start adding up!

Day 8

To quote the iconic line delivered by the late great Robert Duvall: “I love the smell of chlorine on a Monday night after work.”

Well… that’s what he would have said if he’d spent as much time poolside as we do!

Another big shift put in by the boy tonight as part of his 8km March swim challenge in support of Great Ormond Street Hospital. Tonight’s effort: 68 × 25m lengths.

If I wanted to be critical… actually, I don’t want to be. It was a brilliant effort and the determination is fantastic to see.

Even better news  thanks to everyone’s generosity we’ve now busted through the £700 mark and are already heading towards £800. Every donation really does make a difference. 

Back in the pool tomorrow …

Day 7

Today was one of those very normal Sundays

First on the agenda: homework. It got done with real enthusiasm as it’s finally clicked that after that the time is his own or it other words Xbox 🎮 time, so yes the order of the day was definitely homework first, Xbox second.

But to keep us on track someone had stopped by with a donation for Blake’s 8km swim for Great Ormond Street Hospital. Moments like that really remind us how kind and supportive people can be. 

Thanks to everyone’s generosity, we’ve now well passed £600 and are heading towards £700! 🎉 That’s incredible support and it’s giving Blake even more motivation to keep pushing in the pool.

Speaking of which, Blake will be back in the pool tomorrow!

Day 6

I did say rest, didn’t I? But we decided it was time for Blake to do a bit of good old-fashioned door-to-door sponsorship collecting. Armed with his pledge sheet and plenty of enthusiasm, we headed out to our road.

Our lovely neighbours were incredibly supportive. With their pledges and donations we’re now set to pass the £600 mark for Great Ormond Street Hospital! Thank you.

Day 5

After a couple of days off, Blake was back in the pool again on Friday after school. He got straight into it and clocked up a solid 40 × 25 m lengths, mostly swimming breaststroke. It was great to see him back in the water, building his rhythm again and putting in the effort after the short break.

All in all, a really good session to round off the week and get moving again. Now it’s time to wind down, recover a bit, and enjoy a well-earned break because here comes the weekend! 🏊‍♂️😄

Day 4

An enforced rest day today due to a parents’ evening with Blake’s form tutor. No swimming doesn’t mean no fun though!

It was World Book Day, and the challenge was to choose a word and represent it through clothing — much harder than it sounds. Blake chose “fast” and went to school dressed in his McLaren F1 gear 🏎️

Even without time in the pool, the donations kept coming in today and we’re now creeping towards £600, which is amazing. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported Blake’s swim for Great Ormond Street Hospital every donation really does make a difference.

Back to the pool tomorrow! 🏊‍♂️

Day 3

After the heroics of Monday and Tuesday, today is an official rest day…. I’m knackered, and Blake should probably get some rest too!

Even on a rest day, the donations haven’t stopped coming in we’ve now hit £500 raised for Great Ormond Street Hospital! A huge tip of the hat to Darren Hibble for pushing us to this landmark figure. Thanks again!

Day 2

Another impressive evening of swimming – 66 x 25m tonight! 🏊🏽‍♂️

What wasn’t quite as impressive was the unexpected round trip to collect some very important (and very forgotten!) swimming trunks… 

The biggest news of all? We’ve now passed our fundraising target for Great Ormond Street Hospital! 🎉

We are so incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported and donated so far.

Day 1

I’m swimming 8km in March for GOSH Charity! 

My name is Blake. I am 8 years old and I’m challenging myself to swim 8km this March to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (GOSH Charity).

Childhood is really special. It should be a time for fun, curiosity, and making friends. But for some children who are very sick, childhood can be much harder.

That’s why I’m raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, which helps children treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

With every kilometre I swim and every pound raised, we can help seriously ill children have the best childhood possible.

Please donate if you can  even a small amount can make a big difference! I also recommend watching Operation Ouch! on CBBC, which helped inspire me to do this. 🏊‍♂️💙