Final preparations are underway for The League of Friends to The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) as they gear up for this summer’s highly anticipated open water swim fundraiser, the Mere Mile.

The event, which is held in conjunction with Swimfinity, who offer coached open water swimming sessions for individuals and groups at the Mere, is taking place on August 29th – a Bank Holiday Monday – at the Mere, Ellesmere.

The day will see a shoal of swimmers take on the challenge of a 1 mile or 2.5 mile open water swim for the benefit of RJAH – with many swimmers having pledged to carry out additional fundraising.

James Bainbridge of Swimfinity said: “We are proud and excited to partner for the third consecutive year with the Friends to raise valuable and much needed funds to support their critical work.

“The past two years have been hugely successful and we’re looking forward to welcoming this year’s cohort of swimmers along on the day.”

Victoria Sugden, Charity Director for the hospital Friends, said: “We couldn’t be more grateful to our intrepid swimmers, our partners at Swimfinity and all the volunteers ashore and in kayaks helping to keep swimmer safe on the day.

“Huge thanks also goes to our event sponsors Shropshire Pools and Spas Lt who have helped to fund the event for the second year in a row.

“We raised £20,000 for the benefit of our much-loved hospital last year, and we hope to raise a significant amount again this year.”

Tracy Roberts, Shropshire Pools and Spas Ltd Managing Director, said: “It’s a great honour to support The League of Friends with the Mere Mile again this year.

“We all had such a great time last year, the whole event was ran superbly and most importantly a huge amount of money was raised.

“It was amazing to see so many swimmers take part, they all did a terrific job – we can’t wait to see you all again!”

To register to become a swimmer please visit the dedicated event page:

  • https://friendsrjah.enthuse.com/cf/mere-mile-registration

If you wish to make a donation to support the fundraising campaign please visit:

  • https://friendsrjah.enthuse.com/profile