Thank You

This is meant to be short and sweet, but how can it possibly be that?

This has been one experience I will never forget, and I want to thank everyone who has made it possible by providing support, financially, mentally and physically. An amazing amount of hard work has gone into this and I am bowled over by all the support and the amounts being raised for charity (still collecting). Everyone has really pulled together and in a terribly clichéd fashion it really has been amazing to feel the support of a community, coming together and doing good.

So thank you to…

My amazingly wonderful and generous Corporate Sponsors:

St George West London – With a portfolio of luxury riverside homes.

Systems Accountants – Largest supplier of Financial Systems personnel.

Equant – Network services and outsourcing.

Payne Management Consulting – Change management consultancy.

Barcadia – Kingston’s perfect place to drink and enjoy life.

Stack and Bonner – Estate agents, who were super stars in drumming up an amazing amount of local support for me.

Speedo - the legendary swimwear brand, for the provision of my swim kit.

Esporta – Health Club and my training ground.

Finisterre – Design and advertising agency, designed my ‘channelswim04’ logo.

Sillemail – Provider of ‘interesting email addresses’, hosted and updated my web site.

Kall Kwik – Printing shop, providing me with posters and flyers.

Jaggerprint - Printing house, providing me with t-shirt films.

Chameleon design - Providing me with screen printed t-shirts.

Aramark – Catering, provision of high-energy meals in the run up to my swim!

Investment Property Refinance - the ideal way to refinance property investments

Property Portfolio Investment - finance whole property portfolios

Without your generosity, I would not have been able to fulfil a life long ambition and raise an amazing amount of money for three charities:

Kingston Can – Kingston’s Hospital Cancer Unit Appeal

NSPCC – National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children

RNIB – Royal National Institute of the Blind

You have provided me with an amazing amount of support and have raised the profile of my swim by publicising my Channel Swim on your charity web pages and gaining me local and national media coverage.

Local press and regional radio:

BBC radio Berkshire

BBC radio Southern Counties

Croydon Advertiser

Croydon Post

Kingston Guardian

Radio Jackie

Slough Express

Slough Observer

Surrey Comet

All my sponsors; you have raised thousands for charity!!! I am shocked and pleased with the number of people who have sponsored me. Your generosity and messages of support have been overwhelming. Many of you were friends, family and colleagues, but a surprising number were people whom I have never met and to whom I have to be extra grateful for taking the time and effort to support me.

My employer; Equant, for the flexibility to accommodate the ever increasing in hours, training sessions! And, for your generosity in matching employee donations £1 for £1, I’m sure you hadn’t realised just how generous my colleagues would be!!!

My colleagues, who all agree on one thing – I am mad. You have, really provided a great atmosphere and you’ve let me whiter on about my training and all associated experiences without looking too bored. When you see me in the dinner queue now, please ensure that I am eating smaller portions!

My neighbours, you really must think I am mad, having just about got through a mammoth house renovation, it was about time I put my feet up, rested and gave you some piece and quiet. Instead I start an even more gruelling challenge and have spent 10 months multi- tasking between DIY and training. I just need to attack the garden next and then I promise I will lead a normal ‘neighbourly’ existence!

My friends, who allowed me to become a complete recluse and still supported me in my crazy endeavour.

With a tough training regime, work, DIY, gaining corporate sponsorship and media interest, I’ve needed as much rest as possible when I’ve been able to get it and I’ve been too whacked to go out and even cancelled my flights for a girlie weekend in New York! Well girls, get the V&T and cocktails ready ;o)

Gary, a marathon swimmer and former relay and 2 x Channel Swimmer. You provided me with invaluable mentoring for my swim. I am sorry to shatter your and my own confidence in my ability to do this, but without your emails of support and guidance, I would not have got this far. I tried to keep going, going, going, going, going, going, going… but succumbed to my only fear and just got too cold. Best wishes for the Gibraltar Straits in September!

My Mum, Dad and sister, who have come to accept that I will get through what I set my heart on. There are not words to describe my thanks to my family. I’m not one to show my feelings, but your support through all my DIY and training has completely amazed me, I get choked just thinking about it. I’m very lucky, some may say spoilt, to have had your continued support for has been a very strenuous 2 years for me. You’ve been given stick about ‘forcing me to do this,’ if anything you have tried to talk me out of it. Dad, you said, “well, I don’t like the idea, but I much prefer it to when you were skydiving, at least I know you can swim.” So, thank you for all your support through my DIY and training and for taking me to all those swimming lessons, training sessions and galas as a child.

My sister, you stood like a guardian angel in the corner of the support boat through the pouring rain, looking out at me during my swim, your continual presence was reassuring – it’s best I didn’t know you couldn’t go inside for fear of severe seasickness!

And lastly but, by no means least…

A huge ‘thank you’ to Kate! Kate, how can I thank you?

Thank you for all the time you have given me, researching & reviewing corporate sponsor presentations, talking companies into providing me with varying sponsorship, dealing in your very calm manor with my ‘panic’ scenarios, giving up your weekends to drive me to the coast and back for training, so all I need to worry about is swimming. For sitting on Hove beach for endless hours in the cold, rain, wind and sun, watching me swim; for getting in your wetsuit and bringing ‘feeds’ to me in the chilly water every 30 minutes; cooking rice pudding on the beach to warm me up; making sure I’m wrapped up warm after training; taking a week off work to spend in Dover with me; spending a gruelling 5 hours on a boat watching me swim, arranging my feed sessions and coping with the overwhelming number of support text messages, being the onboard film and photography crew and general dogsbody.

So how can I thank you, I really don’t think I can, but I’ll start by trying to never ask you a favour again!!!

Thank you everyone, you’ve been amazing.

Lorraine

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