Ashby Castle Rotary Club President Elect Mark Arjoo, known to many locals as the former Neighbourhood PC of the town, has successfully taken on and completed the challenge of the Great North Swim.

Raising money for charity Little Faces Schools in Kenya, Mark, who becomes Ashby Castle Rotary Club President in July, travelled to the Lake District to take part in the annual Arla Great North Swim event last Friday.

Held on Lake Windermere, a range of options were available to enter between 250m and 10km but, wanting to push himself, Mark, who in his youth was a keen swimmer, took on one of the longer events by opting to swim in the two-mile event.

Mark was inspired to swim for the charity Little Faces Schools in Mombasa, Kenya after attending a Rotary Conference earlier this year.

After speaking to Sally Searle, who is the Rotary Fundraiser for this charity, Mark was left in no doubt that this was the charity he wanted to raise money for.

It is a charity that is already supported by Rotary, and helps to give children secondary education in one of the most deprived areas in the world.

Children living in abject poverty from very poor and vulnerable families in the Mombasa suburb of Bombolulu will benefit from this fundraising. School places are sponsored by the charity as the families have no resources for education, and government funding is not provided for secondary education in Kenya.

Having started training in April, making use of open water swimming in Long Eaton in somewhat cooler weather, Mark set off for the Lake District with support from three Rotarians from Ashby Castle Rotary Club. Catching a boat from Bowness across to the starting point of the event at Brockhole, Mark arrived ready for his acclimatisation period before the start of the swim. The water was a more comfortable temperature than he had faced in training at 19.1 degrees on the day which was a pleasant surprise.

Another 300-400 people set off for the two-mile event at 4pm. Mark battled through the early choppy waters and the crowds to settle in to a rhythm and some clear water as he made his way to the first buoy marking out the route.

The route was one mile long meaning two laps were required for this swim. After a tough first mile, Mark dug in and pressed ahead, keeping a bit extra in the tank for the final push at the end.

Despite the cold starting to bite his feet and hands around 40 minutes, Mark maintained his pace and turned for the final straight after around 47 minutes.

As the wind got up and the water became choppy again a final push saw Mark home in the amazing time of 58:09 minutes. A superb achievement by somebody who has never swam an open water event like this previously.

His time meant an overall position of 14th - which was ninth in the male category.

After the event, Mark said: "I was really really pleased with how the swim went on the day and exceeded my expectations.

"However, the most important thing for me was the difference I hope that the money raised will make to the children who rely on Little Faces School.

"So far we've raised £1,380 and we're still collecting, so we hope that this will go higher. I would like to thank all who have sponsored me so far for their support".

The Just Giving page for Mark's Great North Swim will remain open until the end of July for anybody who would like to sponsor him.

Donations can be made HERE.