On This Day in Wembury — 25 November 1992
Wembury Guides held a sponsored swim to raise money for the Evening Herald’s Somalia appeal. When her sister Clare had to withdraw with a broken arm, nine year old Danielle Lester stepped in. She promised to swim four lengths but amazed everyone by completing eight. Guider Brenda Gunby and the 1st Wembury Guides raised more than £200, with some Guides swimming as many as 50 lengths at the Ballards Centre pool in Millbay Road, Plymouth.
This event reflected the strong charitable spirit of the Wembury Guides. In the early 1990s news of famine in Somalia prompted national fundraising appeals, and local groups like the Wembury Guides played their part. For a small village unit to raise over £200 through effort and determination showed both the commitment of the Guides and the generosity of their supporters. Danielle’s gesture of stepping in for her sister became the symbol of the day’s success.
Source Evening Herald, 25 November 1992
Danielle and her family used to live across the road from us in SeaView Drive. Theyt later moved away.