A QUINTET of ladies known as the Weymouth Methodist Dolphins have raised nearly £1,000 for Sport Relief.

Representatives from local Methodist churches in Weymouth recently took part in a swimathon.

The Revd Jean Quick, Jacqui Trent, Sue Nicklen, Rosemary Wells and Doreen Smith collectively swam 200 lengths at Weymouth Swimming Pool.

Sponsorship forms had been available at all Weymouth Methodist churches for people to donate.

Jacqui Trent, circuit administrator, said: “A few of us decided to get together and go for a swim on a regular basis to give Jean Quick a bit of company.

“They saw an advert for the swimathon and thought lets do that - foolishly. I got roped in.

“We targeted to get £300 but we have managed so far to get £900.”

Jacqui said the group was absolutely delighted and more money was in the process of being collected.

The group surpassed their own expectations in terms of performance, having initially booked out the pool for two hours.

Jacqui said: “We did it much quicker than we thought.

“We did it in about an hour and a half.

“Bearing in mind we are not the fittest people on the planet we did really well.

“A few of them did a few extra lengths just to prove they could do more than 40.”

Jacqui said the group was grateful for everyone who had made a donation and was thankful for the support they had each received.

Nearly eight million people have been supported through money raised by Sport Relief events in the past two years.

From the money raised by the public, half is used to support individuals and communities in the UK, whilst half goes toward transforming lives in other areas of the world.

This year’s Sports Relief saw the majority of fundraising events taking place across the country between Friday and Sunday.

For more information about how you can donate, please visit sportrelief.com

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