25 Mar 2024 Community

In2Swim raises over £1,000 for The Kirkwood and we see Reindeers in the pool for the first time

Samantha McCabe, a swimming instructor who owns her own business called In2Swim has helped to raise over £1000 for The Kirkwood with 160 student swimmers taking part in our annual Reindeer Run. 

Instead of the children running like we usually have with schools and groups in this campaign. Samantha thought it would be a cool idea to have her fantastic reindeers aged between four years old and twelve, swim to raise funds for us. 

On raising the funds the children have she said: “The kids got really into it and I was so proud of them. They did a wonderful job. It visually looks great with them in their reindeer ears in the pool. They had a lot of fun doing it, swimming under things, collecting items and doing different activities.” 

Samantha has been a swimming instructor for 25 years and has taught both in the public and private sectors. We were delighted that she wanted to use her own business to raise funds for our charity and help to make a difference. 

She added “The kids got a certificate at the end with many going into their schools showing off what they'd achieved which was amazing. We'll definitely be taking part in The Kirkwood's Bunny Hop campaign this spring.”

Samantha has a close connection with The Kirkwood and loves what we do. We have cared for a few of her relatives in the past and her father Raymond is currently receiving phone call conversations with our team every few months after being diagnosed with cancer. 

On her love for The Kirkwood she said: “My dad has secondary breast cancer and I've also had relatives that have been cared for by The Kirkwood and died on the In-Patient Unit. My dad was diagnosed with cancer when I was just 13, he then was cleared for years. However during the pandemic he got ill and the cancer had returned in his lungs, it's now in his bones too. He's going through treatment for it and overall he's positive. 

“I love this charity because it is local. I'm a local business person. I think when it's something local, it means more to local people because at one time or another somebody's going to use it that you know of.

“I wanted to help raise funds for it because I really feel passionately about the care and support they offer.” 

Overall The Kirkwood's 2023 Reindeer Run raised £26,000 we'd like to thank all those that took part in last year's campaign.