Swimming for Diabetes UK, Pamela Telford has swum the equivalent of the English Channel in Copeland swimming pool, raising money for a worthy cause in her efforts.

The 58-year-old started the challenge on February 22, and completed the 1,416 lengths (22 nautical miles) in just nine weeks, swimming around 50 lengths an hour up to four times per week to achieve this.

Although Pam is an experienced swimmer, having been swimming for 'donkeys years', she was forced to stop after falling down the stairs and breaking her shoulder three years ago.

So when Diabetes UK posed the hefty swimming challenge to its members, Pam felt it was the perfect opportunity to take up her beloved hobby again, all while raising money for the charity that had helped her so much in her own life.

The Beacon's visitor service manager was diagnosed with type two diabetes in 2010, and has since changed her diet and lifestyle, losing five stone in the process, and she's proud to have completed such an impressive and rewarding challenge.

"It's been really fun, but there were many times that it definitely wasn't!" the Moresby woman said. "At eight miles, I thought,' why on earth are you doing this?', then at 15 miles the pain subsided, and I basically glided through the next lot of swimming."

She added that, although difficult and tiring, her feat was certainly worth completing: "I really have enjoyed it. It gave me really good thinking time, and I was so well supported the whole time by my colleagues, family, and the staff at the pool. I'll definitely be doing it again next year!"

Pam managed to raise over £200 for Diabetes UK, and would like to thank everyone for their contributions and encouragement during her swimming task.