In the swim for charity

TWO former Denshaw schoolboy friends have made a really big splash for charity by swimming Lake Windermere.

John Haywood and Nick Roughley completed the mile-long swim and, with the backing of kind-hearted supporters, raised more than £700 for Mind, the mental-health charity.

The men, who were both pupils at Christ Church Denshaw Primary School and Saddleworth High School and now live in Brighton, crammed in an intense period of training to ensure they were in good shape for the swim.

John (44), who has made a career in the marketing of public arts facilities, said: “I took up swimming again as a means of keeping fit and discovered the joys of open water swimming by swimming in the sea off Brighton beach.”

Nick Roughley (43), whose father, Alan, is an Oldham councillor, has a building business based in the resort.

Nick said: “I find swimming an excellent means of relaxing and much more fun swimming in open water.

“We both decided to have a go at this charity swim on Windermere as it represented a real challenge for us.

“It was a fabulous weekend and extremely well organised. We decided to support Mind as a charity which doesn’t often make the headlines but does an awful lot of good work for a great many people.

“We would like to offer a genuine big thank-you to everyone who supported us. Initially, we’d set ourselves a target of raising £500, but we’ve easily topped that and money is still coming in.”

l To make a donation to their chosen charity, log on to the website: www.justigiving.com/mrjohnandmrnick .