Guide dogs named after huge Lytham St Annes Lions' Swimarathon fundraising effort

The annual event was held for the 34th time on Sunday, January 26 and the cash raised was divided between Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde Guide Dogs for the Blind and Home-Start Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre.

Joe Woods, who organises the Swimarathon every year, said: “We started at 8am and we had six lanes running through the day, and the last swim was at 6pm, so believe me it was a long day! There was a lot of schools and disabled groups taking part.

“We had the Guide Dogs there and we had, during the day, eight or nine different guide dogs coming in and sitting in the foyer where the children could stroke them.

The backing of Guide Dogs for the Blind was aimed at sponsoring and naming a guide dog puppy, which when trained will be based locally and help a child or adult with sight difficulties.

Other funds went towards the naming of a second puppy, and we can now reveal the winning entrants and puppy names.

Ribby with Wrea school won the first competition, and chose to name a 6-month-old Golden Retriever 'Poppy'.

Park School in Blackpool were also successful, and named a black Labrador 'Rolly'.

The two dogs will now complete their training, after which they'll be homed with their new visually impaired owner.

The Swimarathon has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity over more than three decades.

It traditionally attracts hundreds of sponsored swimmers, many of them youngsters, to a day-long event at St Annes YMCA Pool and in recent years has funded defibrillators for local schools as well as health screening for teenagers.

In 2018, a record £15,000 was generated for the Edward Dee Forever Fund for Meningitis Now, while last year the £11,500 proceeds were split between Blackpool Victoria Hospital children’s unit and the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Deaf Society.

A donation was also made at the post-Swimarathon presentation to the Fylde mayoral charity fund, which was the case again this time.