Kat Mackaness and Martha Doyne

In August, Kat Mackaness (MM 2013-18) and Martha Doyne (MO 2013-18) are planning to swim the River Eden in Cumbria. It is a 90-mile long river and they are hoping to complete the swim in 10 days swimming 9 miles a day.

Martha wrote in saying, “Tragically in November Kat’s dad Jamie passed away during the night due to a heart attack. This came as such a horrendous shock and has been extremely hard for Kat’s family and everyone who knew Jamie. Kat’s strength and determination has been an inspiration and she really is incredible.

We spoke to Jamie about doing this swim a while ago and he was very enthusiastic and excited by the sound of it. Unfortunately because things got in the way we didn’t get round to doing it but we are doing it now in memory of Jamie and we will swim every mile thinking of him”.

They are raising money for Seeds4Success, a charity that Kat’s father was involved with and felt very strongly about. Seeds4success works with underprivileged children who haven’t had the opportunities that many of us take for granted. As it is a relatively small and new charity, all the money is really well received and goes straight to schemes that help the children. They are setting up a mentoring programme in memory of Jamie Mackaness which is very special and support means so much.

Kat and Martha “would love any support we could get in terms of sponsorships and even joining in with the swim. If you are free from August 28th – 6th September we would love you to come up and support us and even join in with a leg (if you feel up to it). You could get a car full of people, join us in the water for a day and celebrate at night in the pub!”

You can donate here.