Exercise, friendship and community – that’s why Black Rock Swim came together. A group of local ladies (and the odd chap) who meet weekly to swim at high tide in Dale. Now they want to do something to help others. They have decided to collectively swim the equivalent of a virtual ‘Murshidabad Open Water Swim’ – one of the world’s longest open water swims – to raise money for Family for Every Child’s India Covid-19 Appeal.
The Murshidabad Open Water Swim has been organised annually since 1943. It is among the Top 50 Open Water Swims in Asia and the World’s Top 100 Open Water Swims. Usually taking place in August, with a distance of 81km (50.3 miles) it starts from Ahiron Barrage Ghat on the Bhagirathi-Hooghly ‘Ganga’ River, a distributary of the Ganges River, and finishes at Gorabazar Ghat.
Black Rock Swim will be adding together their individual swims over July and August to hit the target of 81km, possibly more! All funds raised will go directly to critical front line support in India and Bangladesh.
- £20 will provide three N95 masks each, for five children
- £50 will provide two PPE kits each, for four essential services staff
- £100 will go towards food and essentials, vaccinations awareness programmes, and travel to a vaccination centre for ten families living in one of the remotest areas in India
Family for Every Child is a global alliance of local civil society organisations. Their network of ‘Changemakers’ have been working with children and families in the region for many years and are now seeing an urgent need for critical help.
Rita Paniker, a Family for Every Child Changemaker from Butterflies NGO in Delhi says:
“There are no words to describe the magnitude of human tragedy. Delhi has one of the highest numbers of Covid positive cases in India and the health care system has collapsed. The requests for support from families are increasing every day – please help us.”
