Henley Swim and Macmillan Raise £100K in First Year of Partnership

Henley Swim and Macmillan Cancer Support are absolutely thrilled to announce that in their first year of working as partners, over £100,000 has been raised for the charity, smashing the initial target and securing more support for people living with cancer. This successful partnership will continue into 2024 for a second year of collaborative fundraising.

Henley Swim run mass-participation swims in the Thames with four quite different events across the year. The organisation will be 20 years old in 2024 and attracts thousands of swimmers every year.  Macmillan Cancer Support is one of the country’s best known cancer charities, supporting people living with cancer to live life as fully as they can by providing physical, financial and emotional support.

Across the four swim events, 226 swimmers pledged to raise money for Macmillan. Almost half of those swam the Thames Marathon, a 13km endurance event from Henley-on-Thames to Marlow, or the Half Marathon 5.5km version, attracting £70,000 of the fundraising share.S ponsorship was also raised by those taking part in the Selkie Henley Classic, a 2.1km dawn swim on the famous Henley Royal Regatta Course, the Outdoor Swimmer Henley Swim Festival – where swimmers can take on a variety of swim challenges across the day and the unique Club to Pub, a 1.5km swim to the Angel on the Bridge pub in Henley on a Saturday night in July.

Henley Swim Operations Director Juliet Hume said: “This feels like such a good partnership, and we’re genuinely delighted to be able to combine the positive experience of our swims with some very successful fundraising. The Macmillan team have been a terrific addition to the atmosphere at our events and we’re really looking forward to working with them again in 2024 – our 20th anniversary year.”

Emma Pound, Challenge Events Partnership Manager at Macmillan said: “We are thrilled to see our new partnership with Henley Swim raise so much for the people Macmillan continues to support. £100,000 will help us to provide emotional, physical and financial support to people living with cancer and their families. We can’t wait to see what our Team Macmillan swimmers can do next in 2024!’

Places to swim for Macmillan across all events in 2024 are available, with registration open for the 2004 Selkie Henley Classic and Club to Pub.