Rotary Club of Thame & District are appealing to the public to come up with 4 teams to attend the 7th edition of Thame Swimathon, the now traditional fun and fundraising event to be held at Thame Leisure Centre on Sunday 3rd March between 11 am and 3 pm.
With the unexpected withdrawal of 4 teams, there are spaces for teams of 4 to 6 during the 12:00 and 14:00 time slots.
Marius Ciortan, chairman of the Thame Swimathon steering group said: “Thame Swimathon is a great event for families, school friends, work colleagues to raise funds for charity, swim for 1 hour and have fun. To enter is 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 4 team slots will be filled in quickly before the start of the schools’ half term holidays on 16 February.
Teams have the option to allocate 50% of their money raised towards the charity of choice or 100% towards Rotary’s charities. 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, Rotary Club of Thame & District will make a donation towards the charity of team’s choice, should this option be taken.
Rotary Club Thame & District main charities supported during 2018-2019 are ROSY (Respite Nursing for Oxfordshire’s Sick Youngsters) and Thomley.
The event is possible due to generous local sponsors who kindly covered 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.
5 teams for Barley Hill School of Thame will participate at Thame Swimathon raising funds for Barley Hill School PTFA. Jo Sackett, Barley Hill PTFA Trustee, said: “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!”
The event will also be attended by 5 teams from Thame Swimming Club. Team Ice Cream of John Hampden School Thame and Wheatley Park Interact Club will participate 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 will appreciate any support via online donations. The My Donate links can be found onto 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
