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Team NEAS makes a splash at Great North Swim
A team of staff from the North East Autism Society (NEAS) have made a big splash by taking on an epic open water swim to raise money for one of the charity’s homes.
Rae Robinson and Alex Wilkinson, who manage Tunstall Children’s Residential home in Sunderland, were joined by systems analyst Laura Whitehouse, and Iain Watson from NEAS’ training team for the Great North Swim.
The event, which took place on Saturday 13th June, challenged Team NEAS to tackle a one-mile swim through the open waters of Lake Windemere.
It’s the second time Rae and Alex have taken on the challenge to raise money for Tunstall, but the first time they were joined by colleagues from the charity’s central services.
Rae, Registered Manager at Tunstall, said: “Iain and Laura are such big supporters of Tunstall, they know all our kids here and they want the best for them.
“It’s a lovely example of how we’re not just one house on our own, loads of different aspects of NEAS come together to do what’s right for the kids.”
Rae added: “It was so nice to have them with us and feel like a team.”
Learning from a tough swim the year before, Rae and Alex both threw themselves into training, which left them well prepared for rough weather on the day itself.
Rae said: “The weather wasn’t as good as last year, last year we had the sun, and this year was really windy, it was cold.
“The waves were going over our heads, and we definitely drank a lot of Lake Windemere by accident.”
“It was taking a lot longer than swimming your average mile. We were swimming, but not actually moving because the waves were pushing us in the wrong direction,” Rae said.
Rae compared it to going the wrong way on an escalator and Alex, Assistant Manager at Tunstall added: “You were having to swim back onto course to go around.”
Despite the choppy waters, the team were well prepared and spirits were high.
“We all actually enjoyed the swim,” Alex said.
Rae added: “We spent the whole way around laughing and chatting, it was really nice.”
The team have had plenty of support from colleagues, as well as the young people at Tunstall getting behind them.
Alex said: “The first day I came back, one of our young people came up to me and straight away went ‘Swim in the lake! Swim in the lake!’”
Rae added:
“They were excited that we’ve done it. They know we’re doing it to raise money for them, and we’re hoping to get lots of things for the garden,”
The team hope to put funds raised towards transforming an area adjoining Tunstall’s garden into a sensory forest area, inspired by the forest at one of the resident’s schools, as well as making sure the garden is ready for plenty of summer fun for the residents.
“We know how much our kids will all love it here, so that’s our long-term goal,” Rae said.
After a successful swim this year, the team is also looking forward to next year’s event and are already planning their training schedule for 2027.
“I don’t think we’d changed out of our wetsuits before everyone was like ‘Right, same again next year?’” Rae added.
“So the whole team are back in it for next year.”
If you’d like to support Team NEAS, click the link below to visit their JustGiving page.
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