A fund raising Swimathon is set to help Marie Curie Cancer Care and Sport Relief at the weekend.
Derbyshire Dales District Council have pledged their support to the Swimathon Weekend, which runs from Friday to Sunday, and will be charging just £1 for public swimming at Ashbourne Leisure Centre and their other pools across the district.
In its 25th anniversary year, Swimathon has joined forces with British Swimming and the BBC’s Big Splash, Marie Curie Cancer Care and Sport Relief, to promote what is hoped will be the biggest Swimathon Weekend ever.
Swimmers will be helping to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care through Swimathon’s established 5k, 2.5k and Team 5k Distance Challenges and for Sport Relief through the new Big Splash Mile.
Chairman of Derbyshire Dales District Council's Community and Environment Committee, Councillor Steve Bull, said: "Promoting healthy lifestyles is important to the district council and it’s going to be fantastic to see so many people in our community getting into our pools in three Dales towns for this fundraising challenge.
"People taking part will be having fun, keeping fit and raising money for great causes – and we’re encouraging as many people as possible to enjoy our pools by charging only £1 for swimming across the Swimathon weekend."
Funds raised through the Swimathon Distance Challenges for Marie Curie Cancer Care will provide free nursing care and support for people with terminal cancer and other illnesses. The charity expects to care for over 31,000 terminally ill patients in the community and in its hospices this year.
Money raised by the public for the Big Splash Mile for Sport Relief will be spent by Comic Relief to help people living incredibly tough lives at home in the UK and across the world's poorest countries.
Swimathon Weekend's president, Duncan Goodhew, said: "We all know that sports such as swimming will enjoy their time in the limelight this year.
"With 2012 also being our 25th Anniversary year, we’d love to add to the half a million people who have taken part so far, by asking everyone to dive into pools up and down the country."
Entry for the Swimathon Weekend 2012 closes today, so anyone hoping to enter, sponsor a swimmer, or to find out more, can visit www.swimathon.org.
