It is no secret I like swimming but for the last couple of years I’ve been more out of the water than in. Last year, I had a hip replaced and by way of celebration I signed up for the Bantham Swoosh, a 6km swim in an estuary in Devon for a charity close to my heart called Level Water. Level Water provides 1-to-1 swimming lessons for disabled children to enjoy and have fun in the water.

I am especially proud that here in Monmouthshire our leisure centres are partnered with Level Water. It is a new initiative and one that uses the power of water to improve the lives of disabled children in the county. We are part of a pilot scheme to extend the provision of swimming lessons for primary-aged children with visual/hearing impairment or a physical or neurological/developmental disorder.

Supporting children who are neuro-diverse is a top priority for Level Water and the county council. Any child that would like to access the scheme signs up on the Level Water website.

The scheme is running in Caldicot Leisure Centre and we have plans to extend it across all our leisure centres: Abergavenny Leisure centre will be the next.

Our team is doing a brilliant job: one of the instructors - Jodie Hunt - has even been nominated for Level Water’s Teacher of the Year award.

So on July 6 I will be swooshing down the Bantham river along with my daughter, Rosa, and Carly Rogers, a staff member of the council and co-ordinator of mental health swims at Keepers Pond, near Abergavenny.

My own training has been a bit disrupted – the general election has seriously eaten into my training schedule, my wet suit is a bit tight and 6km in open water still seems a long, long way.

But team Monmouthshire is up to the challenge, goggles at the ready, and I will be in the water on 6 July along with dozens of others, hoping the tide will help carry me to the finish!

Wish us luck and if any of you would like to donate to Level Water please do so though Just Giving: Rosa Brocklesby is fundraising for Level Water (justgiving.com).