Swimming thousands of miles, raising thousands of £££s

When Neil Brown, aged 53 from Dunkeswell, started swimming regularly at the age of 28 he had no idea how large a part of his life it would become.  Neil’s mum originally suggested he take up some form of exercise to keep fit, but swimming lengths at his local pool in Honiton has become something of an obsession.

Neil explains: “I keep a record of every single swimming session I do and log how far I’ve swum.  This January I hit 3,714 miles, which is 237,744 lengths of the pool. It’s like swimming from Exeter to New York and then some!  My preferred stroke is freestyle and I usually do 80 lengths in a single swimming session.

“Back in 2012 my dad, Ken Brown, died and was looked after by Hospiscare for the last couple of days of his life.  So in 2013 I started raising money for charity from my swimming.  I’ve supported six charities this way and raised over £2,360 collectively.  For Hospiscare, I’ve raised (with Gift Aid included) over £1,000. 

“It’s the best form of exercise you can do, swimming is a total body workout.  My next goal is to reach 3,750 miles and then maybe aim to hit 4,000 miles after that.  I keep my records all together so I know exactly how far I’ve gone and how close I am to my next target.

“I did a few miles in a pool at Pontins on holiday, but apart from that all my swimming has been at the Honiton pool.  I used to go three to four times a week but I have eased off a bit now and only do one to two sessions weekly. My dad was so proud of my swimming, I know he would be really chuffed with how far I’ve swum.”

Hospiscare is a local adult hospice charity, providing high quality care and support to people with any type of terminal illness, and those close to them, in Exeter, Mid and East Devon.  A gift to Hospiscare in your Will helps to ensure the future of the charity in Devon for generations to come.