Posted on: 1 July, 2025
A charity team is set to make a splash at a swimathon to help people access life-changing health and wellbeing activities.
Six colleagues from Cranstoun Wokingham, which supports people wanting to change their alcohol or drug use, will join the Wokingham Lions Swimathon on 16th July to raise funds for leisure centre memberships for people who use the service.
The event will see teams swim in relay for 50 minutes to raise funds for good causes, with the Cranstoun Wokingham team aiming to raise £900 to provide access to gym memberships to support recovery for people who use the service.
The team, named Waves of Change, is made up of colleagues from across the service: Tara Sharp, Elouise Andrews, Phil Roberts, David Harvey, Ben Shrimpton and Peter Laxon.
Elouise, who is a receptionist at Cranstoun Wokingham, will be taking part in the event. Elouise said:
“I am taking part in the swimathon because exercise is such a valuable tool, not only for physical health but even more so for mental wellbeing.
“I am always keen to be involved in anything that gives people who use our services more support and resources, and I’m excited for us to work as a team and smash our fundraising target!”
Vikki Lake, Service Manager at Cranstoun Wokingham, added:
“We know how much exercise and being active can help with mood and mental health, and it can play such a big part in recovery. We want to provide our service users with the opportunity to access our local leisure facilities, and to promote that being active can be fun!”
Wokingham Places Leisure has agreed to cover the costs of memberships up to the amount raised by Cranstoun. If the team meets their target of £900, Places Leisure will match this to cover the costs of additional memberships, doubling the amount of people who will benefit.
This follows a pilot project last year, funded by Public Health, which saw 35 people who use Cranstoun Wokingham’s services have access to 12-week memberships at Wokingham Places Leisure.
More than half of people who took part in the pilot project reported increases in physical health, mental health and overall quality of life.
The average number of days that people taking part reported using a substance decreased by 50% from 12 to 6, with more than half of people reporting a decrease in the amount of substance used per day.
Molly Hale, Contract Healthy Communities Manager at Wokingham Places Leisure, said:
“We are excited to continue our partnership with Cranstoun as part of our commitment to supporting active places and healthy people for communities to thrive.
“Outcomes from our initial programme demonstrate how important having access to a safe and supportive space to participate in physical activity can be for someone recovering from addiction.
“We look forward to cheering Cranstoun on in the Swimathon at Wokingham Leisure Centre and matching funds raised to double the number of clients who can access memberships.”
This is the second year of the Cranstoun Lions Swimathon, which is set to take place on 16th July at Wokingham Leisure Centre.
A spokesman from The Wokingham Lions said:
“The Wokingham Lions Swimathon is now in its second year. The event is a low-cost, low-risk event designed to help charities, schools and not-for-profit organisations to raise money for themselves.
“Last year, the 24 teams that took part raised £12,500 between them. We hope that all of teams taking part this year reach their fundraising targets.”
Visit cranstoun.enthuse.com/pf/wokingham-swimathon to support the team and donate.