Olympic gold medalist Duncan Goodhew MBE has called on those in need across the swimming community to take advantage of the new Swimathon Foundation Covid Relief fund, which launched this month.
The Foundation launched their first Covid-19 Relief Fund last May, awarding £50,000 in grants and supporting over 100 swimming organisations to combat losses arising from the pandemic.
With further lockdowns in effect and pools still closed, the second Relief Fund will make up a further £30,000 in grants available to provide additional support to those most in need.
Swimathon Foundation President Goodhew said: “I’m thrilled that we are once again able to support the swimming community through this difficult time.
“Almost all swimming clubs and organisations are run by a few individuals who put in an immense amount of voluntary time. I’m so pleased that we were able to help so many last year, but the hard times have not gone away and a huge number of swimming clubs and organisations continue to struggle.
"These people remain the unsung heroes of the sport and it’s so important that the Swimathon Foundation continues to do all it can to help them get through this.”
The Foundation will once again seek to allocate grants of between £250 and £1,000 to small swimming and aquatic organisations who are experiencing continued financial hardship from the effects of Covid-19, especially where access to financial support has not been available.
These range from National Governing Body-affiliated Swim Clubs, Aquatic Clubs and Swim Schools to Independent Swimming Organisations.
The Swimathon Foundation brings together the recreational swimming community and seeks to encourage people to keep or become involved with swimming and aquatics and to enjoy the benefits that that brings, including for physical fitness, mental wellbeing and water safety, whilst raising money for charitable causes.
The Foundation’s activities include ‘Swimathon’, the UK’s biggest annual pool-based swimming event which takes place over one weekend at over 600 pools across the UK.
A total of 750,000 people have taken part since the first Swimathon event in 1986, raising over £50 million for charities in the process, with last year’s event taking place virtually owing to restrictions. The Foundation hopes to stage Swimathon again later this year, providing it is safe to do so.
For more information about The Swimathon Foundation and to apply for the Covid-19 Relief Fund grant, visit www.swimathonfoundation.org.
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