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Strokes for Sands

November Swimming Challenge 2025

Help Strokes for Sands raise ££500!

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£444 + £49.28 GiftAid

Our Goal

£500

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Done. Finished. Complete!

Final swim of November complete! ✅ 
25km Target Hit 🎯

We’ll there’s nothing like leaving it to the last minute, but I managed to complete my final 3km today! Felling super tired now but so glad to have managed to hit that 25km (1000 lengths) target.
As mentioned in an earlier post, as Bec and I have both done this distance now, that’s the equivalent to swimming from Gloucester to Bristol! Throughout November. 
…and all in the name of an amazing charity!

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated this month and for all of the shares and messages of support too.

If you would still like to donate, it’s not too late… I think this page will stay live for a while yet and I’m sure Sands will notify us when it will close the window for donations.

Until next year… 

take care and thank you so much x


P.s anyone fancy joining us next November?
With a whole year to prepare I bet we could go even further.. 30km maybe?? 

The Final Push!

With just 4 days left in November our swim challenge is almost complete… but it’s not over yet!

Thanks to your amazing support we’ve reached over 70% of our fundraing target already!
We’ve still got about 6km each left to swim (that’s 240 lengths) to reach our new 25km targets!
- We’re going to be cutting it close but we’re feeling confident that we can do it!

If you’re reading this and you’ve not donated yet then now’s your chance :) every £1 we raise helps support Sands and their incredible work. - if you can spare a couple of quid it really would make all the difference.

If this is a cause you share our passion for then please do share our page around your networks to help us raise awareness and perhaps even those last few £’s to help us reach our findraising  target!

Thanks once again to everyone who has supported us and we’ll update you again at the end of the week to let you know if we’ve managed our 1,000 lengths in November (fingers crossed!)

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10 Days to go!

With just 10 days left of November… we’ve decided to up our target distance to help reach our fundraising target!

Since hitting our 10km targets we’ve been continuing to clock up the lengths in the pool and have already put in another 5km (200 lengths bringing us to 15km

What do you think to us trying to hit another 10k before the end of the month?! 

That would make 25km (or a very satisfying 1000 lengths of our local pool) Each  throughout November.

For context, that’s equivalent to each of us swimming from Cinderford to Gloucester! 

Thanks got to be worth a couple of quid donation, right? 😉

Thanks again for everyone’s support, together we can make a real difference and support the great work of a wonderful charity x

10km… Complete!

We’ve done it! We’ve now both completed our 10km swims! Between the two of us that’s 800 lengths of our local pool and equates to just short of 12.5 miles!
… or swimming from Gloucester to Cheltenham and back!

I think we both agree it’s been challenging to get the lengths in and there have several times where we really could have passed on dragging ourselves out into the cold wet evenings to head to the pool, but it has been so worth it to help raise awareness and funds for the amazing Charity, Sands! 

Thank you so much to everyone who has shown their support so far. 

We are still a way from achieving our fundraising target so if you can spare a couple of quid to help support those affected by baby loss any donations received are very greatly appreciated.  

We’ll keep updating this page for the rest of the month and may even have a little surprise up our sleeves in the coming days… 

1 in 6

The uncomfortably common figure of 1 in 6 appears far too often in statistics surrounding pregnancy and baby loss.

It is an issue that affects thousands of families each year in the UK with Sands reporting that about 1 in 6 pregnancies end in miscarriage (around 15% of all pregnancies) and that 13 babies die every dayshortly before, during or soon after birth.


While Sands supports those bereaved and impacted by baby loss through a range of services, the charity also engages in training healthcare professionals and campaigns for improvements in maternity and bereavement care. 

Their recent research reveals a glaring gap in specialist psychological support for bereaved families: while 81% of bereaved parents reported that they wanted mental-health support, only about 1 in 6 (17%) of those who needed it were able to access it via the NHS.


It was in response to these findings that sands launched their “#LostInTheSystem” campaign. Through which they have surveyed nearly 2000 bereaved parents and produced the report Lost in the system: bereaved parents’ experiences of mental health care following baby loss. 


https://www.sands.org.uk/lost-in-the-system?utm_source=chatgpt.com


Sands are using these findings to call on the  UK government to eliminate postcode-lotteries in care, issue national standards for bereavement mental health support, and ensure equity of access (including for fathers/partners and earlier pregnancy losses). 


Your kind donations will help sands to not only continue to provide their life-changing support but will also help them to lobby for change and to ensure that anyone affected by pregnancy or baby loss can get the right support for them, when they need it. 


Thank you x

50 / 50

It was nice for Bec and I to do our first swim together this evening… although I must be honest, I was rather relieved that her goggles were leaking and she had to keep stopping as it meant I just about managed to keep up with her! - sorry Bec Haha.
We both managed another 2km each which means we’re both now over the half way mark to achieving our 10k challenge! Whoop whoop!

Coincidentally, we’ve also just hit another amazing half way point…

…thanks to your generous donations we’re half way to achieving our fundraising goal too! 
Thank you so so much again to everyone who has donated so far!

If you’ve not donated yet and feel able to do so, every £1 we can raise will help Sands to be there  for those affected by baby loss when they need it most.

With your help we know we can hit this ambitious target.
Do you think we can reach 75% by this time next week?…

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Bec’s First Swim

Bec’s now out of the starting blocks and has clocked up a very impressive 160 lengths this evening!  😨 Well done Bec!

Here’s what she had to say about the experience;

“Well, that’s the first swim done for myself. After a very long time out of the pool it actually felt so good to get back in today. 160 lengths in the bag tonight! 🏊‍♀️ 


Going in, I was aiming to hit 80 tonight. But the more I did, actually seemed to improve my aching shoulders so i decided to carry it on. Weird. The first 120 were all front crawl the next 40 backstroke (turns out I’m a lot quicker on my back than front)! 🫣 As Rob mentioned counting these lengths definitely the hardest part 🤯 probably repeated a few at times but who knows haha!


Now for a nice hot shower and bed. Then tomorrow on to the next 🏊‍♀️ …

Thank you again to everyone who has supported us on this journey so far, we really appreciate it!! 🤍 xx”


Sharing is caring ;)

Thank you so, so much to everyone who has shown their support  for our fundraiser so far!
Whether it’s an onwards share of our page, heartwarming message of support or a donation every action makes a huge difference in helping us to support this amazing charity!

We’re clocking up the kilometres in the pool and the half way to 10k is in sight
… the shoulders are definitely feeling it tonight though! 

X 

Rob’s first swim…

Just me for the swim today… Bec has got some catching up to do! 😅

So, I’ve done my first 100 lengths (2.5km) (but it may be a couple more)

As my mind regularly wandered off… the conversation with myself as I was swimming went something like this…
“Uh, was that 16 or 18?? I’m not sure… 18, I think. Hmm, I’m not sure, I don’t want to count lengths I’ve not done so I’d better make it 16. Yeah, let’s call it 16, I won’t forget again, I’’ll definitely keep track from here”.  Needless to say… it happened a few times. 😂

An interesting thing I’ve also learned today is this site will only let you log whole Kilometers! So I’ve actually only logged it as 80 lengths (2km) 😩 
Note to self… Make sure you are swimming in multiples of 40 lengths!

Well at least we’re off and going, next time I might just stick to 80 lengths… or should I aim for 120?

P.s if anyone has a method for keeping on track of how many lengths they’re doing without using a smartwatch, please do share! 

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Strokes for Sands

We are a sibling team from the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire and baby loss is something that has deeply touched both of our families as well as the lives of many of our closest friends.


We have seen the difference that Sands make… Their support, compassion, and work to break the silence around baby loss means so much to so many families like ours and that’s why we want to give something back.


Together, we’ll each be swimming 10k in November to raise awareness and funds for Sands — to honour the babies we’ve lost, to support the families who need help today, and to contribute to a future where fewer families experience this pain.


We need your support to make a difference! Whether you’re able to donate to this important cause or want to take on the challenge yourself and swim with us, every contribution counts.

Help us raise awareness, and support Sands in providing essential support for families who have experienced baby loss.


Thank you x

Our Achievements

Thank you to our Sponsors

£32

Kay Lake

£32

Sue Carruthers

Well done you two! Keep counting those lengths Rob!

£32

Hannah Elton-wall

Well done to you and your sister! X

£27

Roger & Heather Toomer

Keep up the good work, all for a great cause

£22

Andrew Toomer

£22

Nicola Jones

£22

Ellie Roberts

£20

Soph & Connor

Well done guys, great achievement

£20

Claire Powles

£20

Alan And Tina Jones

Well done Rob and Bec!

£20

Tina Sheppard

£17

Jodie

Good luck guys!

£17

Gemma Evans

£17

Rebecca Toomer

£15

Rob Toomer

£15

Rich Fishlock

Good luck Rob and Bec!

£11

Teresa

£11

Sheri

£11

Vicky Cinderey

£11

Kirsty Dunleavy-harris

A great challenge for a great cause - you can do it both!! <3

£10

Wendy Baldwin

£10

Geetha Dean

An amazing cause - well done Rob and Bec! Best of luck.

£6

Lisa Kankowski

Good Luck Rob & Bec!

£6

Louise Moore

£6

Natalie Hyndman

£6

Kim Owston

Well done both. Great cause.

£5

Sofi Sullivan

Incredible effort for a incredible charity! Well dobe both!

Our Team Members