We are four colleagues and none of us are regular or competent swimmers! One lunchtime we were talking about the current refugee crisis and decided we wanted to challenge ourselves to make money for the cause. Inspired by the story of a Syrian refugee who swam 8km to reach Greece from Turkey, we have decided to swim 8km on 20th June 2016 – World Refugee Day.

We will be raising money for Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), a charity dedicated to saving lives at sea by providing professional search and rescue to people in distress. We feel MOAS is an apt and worthy cause for funds raised by our challenge – irrespective of one’s stance on the crisis no one deserves to die at sea. In 2014 and 2015 MOAS rescued more than 11,600 people in the Mediterranean; given the current migrant situation their work is more important than ever.