I’m doing a sponsored swim to raise money for Spellers & Allies (S&A), the peer advocacy branch of I-ASC (International Association for Spelling as Communication).
I’ll be swimming 2k without stopping (unless I have to let a faster swimmer past!). That’s 80 lengths of my local pool, and it’s a significant amount as it represents a personal best.
I’ll be doing this on the 18th of February 2026 and using an Apple watch kindly donated by my brother to log and prove the laps.
If you don’t want to read any more, and you just want to give us your money, here’s the link! If you have a couple of minutes, read on to find out why I’m doing this and what it means.
I started swimming regularly a few years ago to manage my physical health, and the first time I managed 12, in an hour, with breaks sitting on the steps. To be doing almost 8 times that now, without needing a break, is nothing short of miraculous, especially for anyone who knew me at school, and knew that I won the Sally Gunnell Award for avoiding P.E. at all costs!
I have dyspraxia, which affects my co-ordination and physical abilities. It impacts my life a bit, but not as much as apraxia does for my peers in S&A. Gregory made this fantastic video which explains apraxia and Spelling To Communicate (S2C) and introduces you to some of the people in S&A who are working hard to improve access to communication for other nonspeakers, and improve their healthcare experiences and outcomes.
We’re raising money for the S&A advocacy group to enable us to spread the word, to put on more presentations to healthcare professionals, to open up S2C as a communication method to more people, so they’re not misunderstood and held back by the assumption that they have nothing to say.
So, if you have some funds to give and want them to go directly to the people doing the work, go to this page and donate! If you can, put Liz’s swim in the tribute field so we can track it.