Nephew inspires mum to dive in (From Gazette Series)

Nephew inspires mum to dive in

A DURSLEY mum had a splashing start to 2004 as she donned her festive wetsuit and dived into the freezing sea on New Years day.

Julia French, of Ewelme Close, braved icey Welsh waters to take part in the annual swim off the coast of Tenby, Pembrokeshire, to raise funds for Cancer and Leukaemia in Childhood.

Mrs French received a medal for her efforts, which were inspired by the plight of her best friend's nephew two-year-old, Travis Williams.

She explained: "Travis has been really ill with a brain tumour and has received a massive amount of help from CLIC so I decided to swim to raise money for the charity."

Despite the cold water Mrs French said the swim was rewarding and she would definitely do it again.

"The water was absolutely freezing," she said. "But I was in there for around five minutes. I was determined to swim out quite far. I couldn't feel my legs when I got out but had been advised to take some brandy, which soon eased the numbness."

Mrs French said some of the swimmers were clearly old hands at winter sea swimming.

"The amount of people who swam in just a swimsuit was amazing," she said. "It was really cold but there was a brilliant carnival atmosphere among the 400 people who took part."

Mrs French was hoping to raise around £100 but she said sponsorship money has been flooding in.

"I am really pleased," she said. "People have been so generous and sponsorship has far exceeded my expectations."

Mrs French works for Barclays Bank in Dursley. The bank has pledged to double any sponsorship money raised, which should bring the total to more than £600.