A SILKSTONE Common woman is nearing her goal for a charity swim in celebration of a milestone birthday.

In January, avid swimmer Amy Roe pledged to swim 50 miles in honour of her 50th birthday for a duo of worthy causes.

As a lifelong churchgoer attending St John’s Church in Staincross, Amy is supporting the place of worship’s ongoing roof fund - as well as the Alzheimer’s Society, which her place of work, Scrivens Opticians, supports.

So far, Amy is well on rack to complete her challenge, having swam 47.5 miles and raised nearly £900.

Amy hopes that locals will support her in the final stretch of her fundraiser and help to push her over the £1,000 mark.

Amy said: “I pledged to swim 50 miles during the year, including a 2.5km lake swim at Cholmondley Castle in June.

“Although I have always enjoyed swimming, I haven’t been as committed over the last couple of years.

“One mile is approximately 1609 metres so 50 miles will be 80,450m.

“This equates to 3,218 lengths of a 25m pool.

“Originally, I was planning on taking the whole year to do this, however, someone suggested I aim to complete it on my birthday which is July 24.

“This means I need to swim on average 111 lengths per week.

“I have attended St John’s Church all my life and would really like to help make the new roof happen.

“We are only a small congregation and are trying hard to raise the much needed funds.

“Alzheimer’s Society is a charity supported by Scrivens and such a worthwhile charity to support.

“I will be making regular updates of my progress via my fundraising pages and Facebook, so you can keep track of how I am doing.”