NEWS

Macmillan Cancer Support becomes the title charity partner of Henley Swim

The Henley Swim Series, four award-winning swim events in the glorious riverside location renowned for the Henley Royal Regatta, has a new title charity partner. 

Macmillan Cancer Support is delighted to come on board as the main charity partner of Henley Swim, and hopes to immerse itself in the growth of open water swimming. 

The events team at Macmillan plan to help more people enjoy the benefits of outdoor swimming by offering free charity places at Henley Swim events in return for fundraising pledges. This will help Macmillan raise the vital funds needed to support cancer patients and families. 

Providing support for people with cancer

“We’re so thrilled to be the Official Charity Partner of Henley Swim,” Sally Walker, Challenge Events Team Manager at Macmillan, told us. “Open water swimming continues to grow in popularity and the benefits are increasingly well documented. Our hope is that we can enable more people to reap these benefits whilst raising money for Macmillan.”

“There are now more than three million people with cancer in the UK. That means millions of lives turned upside down, in thousands of different ways,” said Sally. “Last year, we were able to help over 2.4 million people living with cancer and going forwards and we hope this partnership over the next few years will help even more people and families receive the support that Macmillan provides”.

Choose your Henley Swim event

Henley Swim provides an ideal partner for Macmillan as it hosts four very different swim events each year, appealing to a wide variety of abilities and ages. 

  • Selkie Henley Classic (25 June 2023): Henley Swim has exclusive once-a-year access to the Henley Royal Regatta rowing course, allowing swimmers the opportunity to swim the glorious world-renowned 2.1km course at dawn.
  • Outdoor Swimmer Henley Swim Festival (9 July 2023): This event offers swim distances for all the family along with camping, music and entertainment both on and off the water. Swim distances include the 200m Splash for children aged 8 years and over (with the chance for an adult to accompany them for free), as well as half-mile, 1-mile, 2-mile and 4-mile swims. 
  • Club to Pub (22 July 2023): A 1500m Saturday early evening swim from Henley Rowing Club to the Angel on the Bridge Pub. Each swimmer is presented with a bottle of beer and a medal that doubles as a bottle opener at the finish. 
  • Thames Marathon and Half Marathon (13 August 2023): An endurance swim between Henley-on-Thames and Marlow with a choice of two distances: 5.5km and 13km. It covers a beautiful stretch of the Thames, and has become one of open water swimming’s most prestigious marathon swims.

Free charity places

As well as free charity places and fundraising packs for those purchasing their own swim places, Macmillan will also offer training advice, a supportive community and prizes from Henley Swim partners. They will also be there at the events cheering the Macmillan charity swimmers on. 

Partnership Manager for Henley Swim, Yvonne Turner said: “We love working with charities, using our events to help raise much needed funds and seeing the camaraderie that our swimmers enjoy when it comes to event day. This partnership with Macmillan is especially exciting as they have such a wealth of experience in supporting athletes at events, adding atmospheric activity to the day and a wide reach of supporters looking to take on something new like open water swimming. We are looking forward to the activations going live and working with this talented team!”

Sign up for a free charity place at Henley Swim and enjoy open water swimming whilst helping Macmillan Cancer Support deliver their vital services. Choose your event. Swimmers can sign up for any of the events and distances on offer and benefit from a free place in return for fundraising. Read more about the Outdoor Swimmer Henley Swim Festival.

Stay up to date with The Dip, our free weekly outdoor swimming newsletter.

Jo is the Gear Editor for Outdoor Swimmer and also writes news and features for the website. A keen open water swimmer and long-distance walker, she loves seeking out lakes and lidos close to her home in the Mendip Hills, Somerset. She is the author of The Slow Traveller, editor and founder of independent magazine, Ernest, and has previously tested outdoor clothing and kit for BBC Countryfile Magazine, BBC Focus and Ernest Journal.