A FUNDRAISING group made up of Swindon businessmen will row the River Thames in a bid to raise £15,000.

Swindon Business Cares for Children launched its Silver Appeal this year as it celebrated the charity’s 25th anniversary of being in the town.

This year, chairman Alan Fletcher and his team are attempting to replicate the Thames challenge after initially completing the task in 2005, when they raised over £17,000.

Four of the participants featured in the original challenge, with family members filling in where required.

Mr Fletcher will be rowing alongside Peter Mapson, John Jefferies, Michael Shirley, Hugh Ellins, Paul Fletcher, Sowande Coker and Warren Nienaber for the 124-mile journey from Lechlade to Teddington.

Michael said: “The challenge is going to be very different to the one we did in 2005 because rowing has moved on a bit since then.

"Preparation for the challenge has already started, and we are training in and out of the water to make sure we are ready for August.

“As a team, we want to raise as much money as we can for the centre, because they carry out such phenomenal work.”

The group was founded in 1992 when it helped raise enough money for the NSPCC to purchase and equip its first centre on Victoria Road.

Throughout 2019, the group will be raising money for the Swindon service centre with an overall target of £25,000. They have already raised £4,000 towards the total through other events.

The challenge is expected to take the team three days starting on Saturday 24 August 24 and is sponsored by Bevirs Law.

NSPCC community fundraising manager for the region Caroline Morgan said: “This is an inspirational story and I hope everyone supports this team in their incredible efforts.

“We are so lucky to have caring people such as the Swindon Business Cares for Children who continue to give so much to NSPCC. As 90 per cent of our income is through voluntary donation, our work could not continue if people didn’t fundraise.

“Please support them and help them complete this very difficult challenge and help more children.”

The Swindon Service Centre, which is based in Old Town, runs NSPCC programmes such as DART, Pregnancy in Mind and Letting the Future in.

DART is a programme that looks to rebuild relations between a mother and her child after experiencing domestic abuse.

Pregnancy in Mind supports parents who are at risk of or experiencing mild to moderate anxiety and depression during pregnancy, while Letting the Future in supports children who have suffered sexual abuse.