04/09/2026
Thank you from Sarah and Tom:
We wanted to send a huge thank you for your donation and support of our Swim for Madeleine. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness people have shown us.
We’re very pleased to say that we successfully completed our swim across the Solent on Friday the 21st August. We set off before sunrise and swam much of the crossing in the dark. With a stronger tide and choppier sea than we had anticipated, it was tougher than the conditions we had trained in, so we were incredibly pleased to complete it. I was particularly proud of Tom, who before taking this on hadn’t swum more than 25 metres since leaving school!
Laura de Rooy (First Touch Charity Director) had this to say: We cannot thank Sarah and Tom (and their wonderful support team) enough for undertaking this epic swim to raise funds for us! The money raised by friends, family and others will make a huge difference to babies, parents and staff on St George's neonatal unit, enabling the unit to refurbish and re-equip their 28 year old milk bank! Human milk is of utmost, lifesaving importance to premature and sick babies. Sarah and Tom' s fundraiser is also going towards the purchase of a specialist ventilator for the unit. These extraordinary machines have allowed the neonatal respiratory team to make a truly impactful difference, with a 50% reduction in mortality from chronic lung disease in our extremely preterm cohort. Thank you Sarah, Tom, big brother Jack and Madeleine!'
With your support, we have now raised an incredible £55,000 (inc gift aid) towards our £70,000 target for First Touch. We still have £15,000 left to raise, but to have come this far already is something we are enormously grateful for.
We’ve included a few photographs from the swim and our recent fundraising event in our village. Thank you again for your donation, messages and encouragement. It genuinely meant a huge amount to us during the swim and means even more knowing the difference this money will make to babies and families going through some of the most difficult days of their lives.
You can donate to Sarah and Tom's JustGiving page here:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/swim-for-madeleine
