I have heard of being refreshed whilst travelling but this is ridiculous! Last weekend was the annual Bestival on the Isle of Wight, which attracted thousands of party goers eager to display their fancy dress costumes. Although most revellers travelled across the Solent in a boat, there were twelve with other ideas. Their intention was to swim together and raise money for charity.
The hardy twelve each received complimentary tickets to Bestival courtesy of the organisers, for making the fundraising trip.They swum across one of the busiest bits of water in the world. It was business as usual for everyone else travelling the distance by IOW ferry crossing between Lymington and Yarmouth and Portsmouth and Ryde.
The swimmers geared themselves for the Friday start, which took them from Stokes Bay to Ryde Pier on the Isle of Wight. The Swim2Bestival event was hoping to raise funds for the Imibala Trust, an African educational trust and the Marie Curie cancer charity. The Imibala Trust, a South African charity is helping to fund the education for the multitude of disadvantaged kids in the region. One of the coordinators of the swim, Yasmin Hussein a teacher, worked with the trust earlier in the year, and felt inspired to give something back. The aim of all the swimmers, who came from all over the UK, was to raise enough money to buy a minibus for the school.
Bestival headliner Radio One DJ Rob Da Bank embraced the sponsored swim idea. Giving the swimmers free entry was not the only thing he did, he also allowed them to continue fund raising during Bestival by cleaning and shining shoes. One of the swimmers was heard to remark: Its a crazy way to get to there, but Bestival stirs up crazy ideas. Its a brilliant little boutique festival.
Bestival was on for three days in Robin Hill Country Park, a site where it has been established since it began in the early part of the decade. The final amount raised has not been announced, although we are expecting something to be broadcast soon.