MARATHON swimmer Richard Elloway was this week more than half-way through his charity challenge to support St Margaret's Hospice.

Richard, of Seymour Street, Wellington, is swimming 1,400 lengths of the pool in the town’s sports centre, equivalent to the width of the English Channel.

The 76-year-old has now completed 874 lengths, leaving a further 526 which he hopes to complete before the end of the month.

He is raising £3,600 to purchase a second anti-pressure chair for the hospice, where his wife Pamela, now in a care home, was looked after when she left hospital.

Richard said: “The care that my wife had was absolutely wonderful, with the kindness and support from the staff there.”

Donations can be made through a collection tin in the sports centre foyer or online via Richard’s JustGiving web page, which can be accessed by searching his name on the site.