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Jan Coulton’s challenge: The Great North Swim
Jan recently lost her daughter Charlotte, aged 26 years in a tragic accicent.
She completed the Great North Swim, a one mile open water swim in Windemere, on the Saturday 13th September to raise funds for the Daisy Appeal... What a brave lady!
Yes, I finished - it was very difficult. I really enjoyed the atmoshere before and after the event but I can't honestly say I enjoyed the swim.... it was 15.1 and quite choppy, it was difficult to see the course markers because of the waves - I just kept thinking of why I was there and kept going!
I have always been a keen swimmer and used to go swimming with Charlotte most nights after work. At the time she was a teacher of Drama and English at Longcroft School in Beverley. In October 2005 she went to Thailand with her partner Greg O' Donnell to work in the English School in Bangkok. On 25 February 2006 she was tragically killed, and for a long time I could not go back to my daily swims, I missed my swimming partner too much and found it too painful. I took up open water swimming mainly in the Lake District and when I heard about the Great North Swim taking place on her birthday I thought that this was a great opportunity to swim in Charlie's memory and raise funds for the Daisy Appeal. Charlie was always very supportive of local charities and would give her last penny to someone in need. When in Thailand she often gave any money she had on her to girls that had been sent to Bangkok to work in the sex trade - the money was to give them the opportunity of making it home back to their local villages, deep down she knew that this rarely happened as it was often the village that had sold them into the trade in the first place!
Her long time close friend Jessica suffered from cancer and lost her battle at the beginning of July this year. Charlie often sat with Jess in the hospital supporting her through treatment. Jess was a similar kind of girl always thinking of others and even at the end wanted the new cancer unit at Castle Hill to benefit from her death and asked that donations be made to that unit. The Hull Daily Mail did a piece early in July on this if you need further information. Charlie and Jess would be fully in favour of this fundraiser for the Daisy Appeal - I have asked family and friends to donate in memory of Charlotte and Jessica.
The national press and Hull Daily Mail covered Charlie's death in February 2005 - she was born in Hull, education at Hull High School for Girls and Pocklington School and her father was the presiding Judge in Hull, sadly Peter died two years prior to Charlie and Charlie's funeral was two years to the day that her father died.
Charlotte has two brothers Edward and William and a sister Indea. Jessica has a brother Joey and partner Paul.
We'd like to congratulate Jan on her great achievement, and thank her for supporting the appeal.
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