The Children with Cancer UK Swim Serpentine takes place this Saturday and four people from Bude have been chosen to represent the Talan’s Trust charity.

Tegan Penny (Talan’s sister), Megan Foster, Sean Wilcock and Annette Braithwaite-brown were selected to represent the Talan’s Trust charity to swim in London’s Hyde Park at the Children with Cancer UK Swim Serpentine.

The swimmers chosen on March 12 this year were each given a target of £500 to raise before the event, but have since surpassed this.

Tegan has so far raised £1,208.34 through donations to her JustGiving page; Megan has raised £1,014.05 and Sean has raised £721.55, after they teamed up to host a cake sale in Bude’s triangle in August, and a bag pack at Morrisons earlier this month — raising £400 and £429, as well as their own JustGiving pages.

Annette has unfortunately been unable to raise any extra funds due to moving house and having to look after her children during the summer break.

However, she is hoping to put on a fundraiser after the swim to raise more money and increase awareness of childhood cancer.

The local charity was set up in memory of Talan Penny after he passed away in May 2017. Talan had a rare form of cancer, Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), a type of soft tissue sarcoma that grows in active muscles of the body. Talan was 19 when he passed. The Trust wish to raise awareness of RMS and other childhood cancers and raise money for research into the disease Talan had.

Founder of the charity, Sarah Penny said: “The Serpentine Swim is a first for Talan’s Trust. Because we had an official runner this year at the London Marathon we were given the opportunity to have four swimmers at this event. We decided on the half mile and two miles. And then people put their names forward for a ballot.

“The four chosen were asked to raise £500 and they have not only raised that but far exceeded it, still with time to go.

“We are so grateful to them all and wish them all the best for their challenge on Saturday.”

Despite Sean and Megan both going over their targets, they are still looking to increase their amounts.

Sean said: “My aim now is to double my target and keep raising money right up until I hit the water.”

Megan added how pleased Sean and her are following their combined efforts. She said: “We were over the moon with how much money we raised through both the bake sale and collecting at Morrisons, and have been overwhelmed by people’s support of us at both these events and in preparation for the swim.”

Sean also praised the charitable nature of Bude’s community.

He said: “It’s local fundraisers like this that make you realise how supportive the Bude community is. From not only donating to the JustGiving page, but also people that donated cakes and actively spread the word at the bake sale.”

Megan emphasised the need to raise awareness for childhood cancers. She explained: “Childhood cancers receive less than 1.3% of funding from major cancer charities, despite children being used in 40% of advertising for these charities. The treatments are outdated, and the funding just isn’t there.

“It is so important that we keep pushing for better treatments for children with cancer, so that others don’t have the endure what Talan went through.”

The charity is very close to both Sean and Megan’s hearts, having grown up with Talan. Megan continued: “Tal was one of those rare brilliant souls you meet in life who made everyone around him laugh, he remained positive throughout his illness, and inspires us to keep going and push to make a change.”

Sean has been grateful that he has been able to represent the Trust. He said: “Talan’s Trust has always been close to my heart. Talan was always a great friend to me and we share so many memories, so to be given the opportunity to swim in aid of this charity is very special to me.”

If you’d like to donate and follow their progress up until the swim on Saturday, visit justgiving.com and search for Tegan Penny, Megan Kay Foster or Sean Wilcock.

For more information about the event visit www.swimserpentine.co.uk