Young swimmer raises funds for the Dogs Trust charity
Since 1891, the Dogs Trust has been organising sponsored walks and boosting funds for the charity in a bid to re-home and care for stray and abandoned dogs. Since this time, hundreds of thousands of dogs have been nursed back to health after trauma and adopted by caring owners. The potential of this charity was recently noticed by one young swimmer, Madeline Barker. The eight-year-old is a pupil at the Croftland’s Junior School and her triumph has seen her snatch the title from the previous pupil who completed the longest swim.
Madeline swam for 50 lengths and, with her faithful sponsors, she managed to gather £150 for the Dogs Trust charity. Speaking about her victory Madeline said:
“At about 35 lengths I swallowed a lot of water, which made my tummy hurt, but my mum kept encouraging me to carry on as there weren’t many lengths left to do.”
The 1,250 metre swim was observed by her mother, Kim Barker, and other swimmers who were present in the pool.
Perhaps it was Madeleine’s surname Barker that influenced her to help canines everywhere or maybe she was tempted to reach her target due to the motivational visits the school frequently receives from education officers in Furness. Whatever the reason for this young girl’s kindness, the money will now be put to good use for the 16,000 dogs that are cared for by the charity on an annual basis. Donations can be made by visiting a local Dogs Trust establishment or by using the Internet.
