A DEDICATED band of parents, governors and a teacher calling themselves the Channel Nutters will take to the sea this summer after 20 months of training.
Colin Carter, Lucie Glander, Sally Dunford, Ed O'Reilly and Sarah Caulfield-Ware from Southbroom Infants School want to swim the Channel as a relay team to raise money for school funds and four charities.
Mr Carter, 46, who is chairman of governors, said: "We started this journey to show the children of Southbroom Infants that with ambition and effort you can achieve anything, no matter how daunting it may seem at first.
"The kids are taught if you try, try, try then you can, can, can and we're putting this into practice."
Teacher Mr O'Reilly came up with the idea of the Channel swim in 2015 and was joined by parents Mrs Glander and Mrs Caulfield-Ware, Mr Carter and vice chairman of governors, Mrs Dunford.
Four of the participants have children at the school now or ones that have now moved up to Southbroom St James junior school. Mr O'Reilly, who lives in Marlborough, has two young boys who go to school in the town.
They have been in serious training for around 18 months but their big test will come later this month when they must prove they can swim for two hours without a break in sea water below 15.5 degrees centigrade.
Mrs Glander, 33, who was a weak swimmer before she took up the challenge, is worried that she might suffer from sickness if the sea is rough. She said: "Its happened to me before in a practice swims in the sea and there is a good chance I will be ill again but I am determined to complete it."
If all goes well the five will hope to complete the swim from Dover to the French coast in August and raise money for the school's friends association, Lifeboats, Wiltshire Air Ambulance, the Finlay Foundation and Maytree, which is a sanctuary for the suicidal.
Mr O'Reilly said: "We are training hard and hugely committed to the challenge ahead. We will be swimming in basic swimwear with no wetsuits allowed so will be up against the elements and the jellyfish."
Henry Fry, who is a friend of the team, is the reserve team member and has been following the same gruelling training regime.
The team has already gained a number of corporate sponsors including Solomon Commercials, Carter Pumps, Gaiger Bros, Melksham Tyres, Coral Cove, Walter Rose & Son, Grant UK, T Quality and Gullivers Truck Hire.
To sponsor them go to https://www.justgiving.com/teams/ChannelNutters or to find out more about corporate sponsorship email colin.carter@solomoncommercials.co.uk
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