Neil Rows from Bristol to London for GOSH

Sponsored Row of the Kennet & Avon Canal, By Neil Warren For Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity In his own hand-built 12ft Thames Rowing Skiff "Alicia"

See www.Rowalicia.co.uk for more...

Last year our baby daughter Alicia underwent complex open-heart surgery to correct a rare congenital heart defect, Tetralogy of Fallot. Thanks to the skill, care and dedication of the cardiac team at Great Ormond Street Hospital, she has made a miraculous recovery.

I can never repay the staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital for every thing that they have done for Alicia and my family, but I can help them to raise essential money. Great Ormond Street depends on public support as well as NHS funding and needs to raise 17 million each year to treat children like Alicia with serious and life threatening conditions.

I am determined to raise as much money as I can. This is why I am attempting to row the length of the Kennet & Avon canal- an 87-mile waterway linking the Bristol Channel to the Thames in a 12' Thames rowing skiff that I have built specifically for this purpose. I set off on Sunday 18th May and hope to reach the Thames 5 or 6 days later. There are 105 locks along the canal and the boat will have to be lifted out and carried around each one. The effort will be equivalent to 3 ½ London marathons!

I hope that my family, friends, colleagues and the companies I work with will consider this venture worthy of their support and help me raise vital money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.