Four more teams needed for Thame Swimathon

THE Rotary Club of Thame & District are appealing to the public to come up with four more teams for seventh Thame Swimathon, the annual fun and fundraising event.

Marius Ciortan, Chairman of the Thame Swimathon steering group, said: “Thame Swimathon is a great event for families, school friends and work colleagues to raise funds for charity, swim for one hour and have fun. To enter is as easy as 1-2-3: get a team of 4-6 together; download the Team Entry Form from www.thame.rotary1090.org, fill in the form and then email it to thame.swimathon@btintenet.com“

The organisers hope that the four team slots will be filled in quickly before the start of the schools’ half term holidays on February 16.

The Swimathon will be held at Thame Leisure Centre on Sunday, March 3, between 11am and 3pm, and all participants will receive a medal awarded by Cllr Ann Midwinter, Mayor of Thame.

Teams have the option to allocate 50% of their money raised towards their charity of choice, or 100% towards Rotary’s charities, which are ROSY (Respite Nursing for Oxfordshire’s Sick Youngsters) and Thomley. In both cases all monies will be collected by Rotary Club of Thame District which will apply for Gift Aid as appropriate. Once this process is completed, the club will make a donation towards the charity of the team’s choice, should this option be taken.

Marius explained: “The event is possible due to generous local sponsors who kindly cover the swimming pool hiring costs: Thame Leisure Centre, Haddenham Beer Festivals Trust, and Aston Hearing. Most of the medals to be given to participants were engraved by Neil Merritt of Ignite Sport who sadly passed away in 2018.”

Volunteers from Thame and District Lions Club, Thame Inner Wheel and Wheatley Park Interact Club, will be supporting Thame and District Rotarians with the counting of lengths swum by teams.

Five teams for Barley Hill School, Thame, will be participating, raising funds for the school’s PTFA. Jo Sackett, Barley Hill PTFA Trustee, said: “We are so thrilled to be involved in the Thame Swimathon again this year; a wonderful event that the Barley Hill children thoroughly enjoy and we raise a pound or two for charity at the same time, fantastic!”

There will be five teams from Thame Swimming Club, Team Ice Cream of John Hampden School, Thame, and Wheatley Park Interact Club will be participating again this year. A new team, called Team 50, which includes the family of Thame Rotary President’s family, will celebrate 50 years of Rotary in Thame and neighbouring villages.

The teams would appreciate any support via online donations. The My Donate links can be found on the Thame Swimathon page of the Rotary Club of Thame & District’s website www.thame.rotary1090.org, and on Facebook via www.facebook.com/thamerotary