7 swims in 7 days for 11-year-old fundraiser

Tuesday 03 September 2024

A young girl has completed her own fundraising challenge to raise money for animals.

11-year-old Alice Miller was inspired by seeing hundreds of people complete the Castle Swim early in August.

An avid swimmer already, she decided to swim that route across Havelet Bay every day for seven days in a row,

With a recent competition win at the UK Nationals, where she helped set a relay record, Alice had some idea what she was letting herself in for when she started on her challenge.

However, despite this, Alice is said to be "not very keen on open water", and "has struggled to get into deep water previously", so deciding to swim across Havelet Bay seven days in a row really pushed her to her limits.

To add more to her challenge, Alice wanted to raise money for the GSPCA as she also has a passion for wildlife.

Pictured: Photos provided by Alice Miller's mum, Sasha Kazantseva-Miller.

Alice's mum, Sasha Kazantseva-Miller said this challenge then combined two of her interests. 

“Alice loves animals and has been thinking about doing a fundraising event for the GSPCA as she is too young to volunteer at the Shelter. She decided to combine her swimming powers with her love for animals (especially reptiles) by swimming across Havelet Bay every day for a week following the famous Castle Swim event.

“She has had to endure rain, wind, waves and seaweed in her last week. During one of the swims she rescued a drowning wasp and held it in one hand while swimming!

“She is already over her target fundraise and we promised to double it! She is delighted although were quite tough conditions.”

At the time of writing, Alice's fundraising has reached nearly £600 - almost three times her original target of £200.

GSPCA Manager, Steve Byrne said he was very grateful to Alice for donating her time in this way.

“It is incredible when we hear of amazing challenges in aid of the GSPCA and recently we heard from Sasha who got in touch about her 11 year old daughter called Alice undertaking a 7 day open water swim challenge to raise funds for the work of the GSPCA and the many animals in our care.

“It all took place two weeks ago at Havelet and there were some very challenging weather conditions. Despite the wind and rain for what was supposed to be the Summer holidays she completed her challenge and you can still donate to her fundraising page by going to giving.gg/donate/event/9665/Havelet-Swim-Challenge.”

Mr Byrne said that every penny raised for the GSPCA goes towards supporting animals and wildlife, of all species.

“A huge thanks to Alice for this amazing swim and fund raising for all the work and animals at the GSPCA we truly appreciate it.

“There are many ways to support our work with lots of ideas on our website www.gspca.org.gg."

Pictured top: Alice Miller, with her mother.