ONE member of the Cumbria-Rungwe Community Link is swimming Wastwater both ways in order to keep the charity going.
Julia Lee will swim almost 10km all at once during the two lengths of wastwater. It'll take anywhere from 6 to 8 hours.
The charity has a partner committee in Tanzania, RCCL, which works with a number of schools in Rungwe, Tanzania. They are responsible for gathering project bids for CRCL to raise money for. This includes everything from classroom building to local libraries.
Furthermore, both committees select students from each area to travel from Tanzania and West Cumbria on both outward and inward journeys. CRCL raise the money to pay for passports, visas, travel and flights for 3 adults and 6 students to travel from Rungwe and spend three weeks in Cumbria.
The money raised from the will go towards inward expenses. At the moment, that includes flights, passports and visas for the 6 students and 3 teachers who are flying to Cumbria next June to spend 3 weeks in West Cumbria.
Julia spoke about her preparation for the swim, saying:
"I am not nearly as prepared as I should be for such an epic swim, but I know I'll be able to complete it as I've got a great support team around me and I'll have plenty of sweets and chocolate on the way."
"It's the cold water that's the biggest danger as I'm planning on doing the entire swim without a wetsuit and its getting cold in there. I've never been in these temperatures for so long before."
Julie spoke about her nerves for the big swim, saying:
"I am so nervous but more nervous that we won't raise enough money for CRCL to make sure our first inward since 2019 is a success."
The CRCL launch meeting is taking place on Wednesday September 21st at St. John’s Church Hensingham from 6-7pm. You can learn all about what the charity does and how you can get involved and take part in the first inward (Tanzanian visit to Cumbria) in three years.
CRCL wants to welcome 15-18 year olds in our area to St John’s Church, Hensingham, to learn more about us. This isn’t for any one school - it’s for everyone!
Read more: Cumbrian charity which supports Tanzanians needs more recruits
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