Edinburgh Leisure is inviting people to sign up to their first ever public fundraising event – the ‘Jump In Swim Challenge’, which begins on September 1.

Swimmers who take up the challenge will stroke, crawl and paddle for 30 days whilst raising vital funds to give local nursery school pupils affected by poverty the chance to learn to swim, an opportunity that many of these children do not have.

The ‘Jump In Swim Challenge’, which is open to anyone to take part, invites people to swim a total distance of 5km or 10km in September. For those looking to be a little bit more adventurous, they can take in the 10×10 Challenge and swim their 10km across Edinburgh Leisure’s 10 pools over the course of September.

Edinburgh Leisure Chief Executive June Peebles said: “every child should learn to swim; it’s fun and a great way to be active, as well as being a potentially life-saving skill. Swimming is also an activity that you can do throughout your life – as demonstrated by the age range of our swim customers! All money raised by Jump In challengers will enable Edinburgh Leisure to provide nursery school children the chance to learn to swim. As little as £40 will fund one child through their 8 weeks of swimming lessons, with a target of 500 children being set for the project. I encourage anyone who is interested in a new challenge to Jump In and contribute to this wonderful event.“

Since 2012, Jump In has helped 1,500 nursery school children become safer and more confident around the water. The project works with local authority nursery schools situated in areas of deprivation. Children get a free block of swimming lessons and the chance to go swimming with their family for just £1. This is followed by six months of discounted lessons, giving parents an affordable way for their child to become a more confident swimmer.

Are you interested in taking part in the challenge? You can register online at www.edinburghleisure.co.uk/jumpinswimchallenge or pop in to any Edinburgh Leisure venue for details.