December is a time of helping people in need and the Thomas Smith Christmas Charity Swim aims to do just this as it raises funds in aid of the Malta Community Chest Fund.
The annual event started in 1999 when Anton Buttigieg, general manager of Thomas Smith Port Agency, and some of his friends collected a small sum of money in aid of charity in return for Buttigieg swimming in the cold seas during the Christmas season. Ever since, the Thomas Smith Charity Swim grew substantially.
The event sees swimmers, young and old, brave the freezing winter sea.
Last year, a record 330 swimmers took the plunge, helping to raise €14,000.
“We should all do what little we can to inspire a positive change in the world,” says Lisa Phillips, who will be taking part in both the Mdina to Spinola marathon as well as the charity swim, which will both be held on the same day, hours apart.
She adds: “A lot of people have been complaining about what a bad year 2016 was. I’d say, ‘Complain less, do more’.”
Peter Fitzgerald, participating in the swim for the second time, proves Phillips’s last statement right. Having been in an accident which left him unable to walk, Fitzgerald explains:
“The new world I had entered was both alien, unexpected, unprepared for and of a lightning fast transition.”
Nonetheless, Fitzgerald continues to keep supporting noble causes such as this, and has fun doing so. This, of course, does not come without its challenges.
Peter Fitzgerald, who is bound to a wheelchair after an accident, is participating in the swim for the second time. Photo: David Caruana Dingli
Lisa Phillips will be taking part in the swim and the Mdina to Spinola marathon tomorrow.“Access to enter and exit the water from a chair position is an issue. I am happy that my proposal of having sea chair hoists installed on jetties for mobility-impaired people has been realised this year.
“One was installed in Qawra and another in Sliema.”
Fitzgerald is not only looking forward to tomorrow’s swim but next year’s as well.
The charity swim lends a cry to humanism: to helping those in need, a characteristic of which the Maltese are definitely proud.
As Fitzgerald puts it succinctly: “Disability knows no race, age, creed or social status, so to help out others in deficit is not only noble but also fulfilling.”
• For more information about the swim contact Thomas Smith offices on 2205 8058, or send an e-mail to charityswim@tcsmith.com. Those who cannot attend the event yet still wish to donate to this cause, may do so by sending a blank SMS to 5061 8178 (€4.66) or 5061 9279 (€11.65); or via a bank transfer to the following account: HSBC Bank (Malta) plc, 32, Merchants Street, Valletta. account no: 033-080037-002; Swift code: MMEBMTMT; Iban no: MT04MMEB44336000000033080037002.
