RAF serviceman Alan Peirce and a separate team from a NATO training school in Germany

RAF serviceman Alan Peirce and a separate team from a NATO training school in Germany, are embarking on a huge, physically demanding, swimming challenge in May to raise vital funds for North-West Charity Autism Together.

Alan and his team will swim a total of 10 miles on 18th May in Oberammergau, Germany, and they have already raised over £1000 for Autism Together’s Future 50 Appeal. The distance of the swim is equivalent to running a marathon and a half, and training is currently ongoing with a strict fitness regime in place with the help of Roger James Smith at Target Your Fitness.

Alan set himself the challenge after learning about Autism Together’s Future 50 appeal which hopes to raise £2.5 million to build a pioneering autism assessment and diagnosis centre.

The pioneering centre will use high-tech biometric technology to map the anxiety of patients with severe autism who are not able to speak or indicate how they are feeling. The data will be collected on lightweight bracelets worn by patients, which look like Fitbits.

RAF serviceman Alan Peirce

Talking about his challenge, Alan said:

“When I heard about the Future 50 project I felt compelled to do something. The training has proved to be challenging however I am looking forward to completing the big 10-mile swim”.

Alan and the separate team are fundraising via just giving and donations can be made here:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/alanpeirce

More information on Autism Together’s Future 50 project can be found here:

www.autismtogether.co.uk/future50