AN OSWESTRY care home worker has helped raise a thousand pounds for charity by swimming the length of Coniston Water in the Lake District – the first time she ever swam outside!
Beverley Sterry, 54, is from Nesscliffe and works at Bluebell View Care Home as a wellbeing and activities coordinator and has been swimming for a year.
After taking up the sport for pain relief, she decided to use her new-found love for swimming to help raise money for causes close to her heart and said she was delighted to take on the challenge.
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“I entered one end of Coniston Water and staggered out the other, more than five miles away,” she said.
“I’m a very keen swimmer, putting it lightly – I used to be a police officer but I had to retire early because of a back injury.
“Every now and then it flares up and it knocks me off my legs and in 2023, I had a particularly bad one which left me in a mobility scooter and wheelchair to travel distances.
“For the first time in my life I got that perspective of not being able to walk properly and it felt scary, and it made me appreciate how people who are confined to a wheelchair must feel.
“I didn’t like that so I joined a swimming club and started building up gently until I got the idea of fundraising in order to keep my motivation going for my rehabilitation.
“Within two months, with the help of physio at Gobowen, I was able to start walking again without as much pain.
“I planned to start the fundraising and I have some close friends whose babies were born asleep and I asked them if I could swim in honour of their babies.”
Beverley said that her training was purely pool-based, meaning her walk into the water in the summer was extremely daunting.
“It was both a baptism of fire and water,” she said.
“I’ve raised around £1,000 using Just Giving for the baby charity Sands UK which is now closed but people can get in touch and still donate.
“I’m very proud – it’s humbling really as it’s a massive body of water and there were 1,200 people taking part.
“I actually came 26th in my over-50s age group too and I met so many lovely people who were competing.
“I do breaststroke and that gets me from A to B which in this case was from one end of Coniston to the other.
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“I’ve done Rutland Water in Leicestershire too with my husband, who's been a great supporter for me, and he drove me there on our wedding anniversary where we stayed on the water.
“He took me to the start line and I swam the water’s width this time.
“When the water’s warmer this year, I will try to do another one.”
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