The Mencap Marvels swimming the English Channel
The Marvels are once again attempting to cross to France, this time with a brand new team of hopefuls. 16 swimmers in total have qualified for the swim in 2026, including 2 of our friends from Hall School Wimbledon.
They will be swimming the channel around August and September. It all depends on weather and the conditions of the sea. They have so much to take into consideration, not only their fitness and skills, but they also brave the cold and windy sea.
The Mencap Marvels have become the world's most successful English Channel junior relay team. The Beech Hall School hosts this event with their students to fundraise for Mencap and swim to France!
About the challenge - at a glance
- 16 swimmers have qualified
- team relay - swimming 1 hour at a time in turn (day or night)
- the crossing usually takes between 12 and 18 hours in a relay team
- minimum of 21 miles to swim - the distance depends on the tides and weather
- water temperature of just 15°C
Swimming the channel is an incredible feat, never mind doing it so young and doing it for such an incredible cause. We want to say a massive thank you to the Mencap Marvels for their continued support and we wish them the best of luck for their swim.
Benefits of fundraising for Team Mencap
If you can't find what you are looking for on our event page please contact our team who would be happy to help.
Our fundraising ideas page carries a downloadable resource which holds lots of inspiration for fundraising.
JustGiving pages are the easiest way to start fundraising, as you can set them up quickly, share them across social media immediately, and all money comes directly to us.
JustGiving also takes care of all Gift Aid!
You can get started by reading our guide to setting up your JustGiving page and then sign up to JustGiving.
If you prefer we also have a handy sponsorship form which you can download to collect your fundraising.
We have a secure Mencap
website
A website is a page you can go to on the internet like Google or YouTube.
which helps you easily pay in your fundraising.
Take a look at our stories pages to find out what it's like to fundraise for Mencap.
Mencap support the 1.5 million people in the UK who have a learning disability A learning disability is to do with the way someone's brain works. It makes it harder for someone to learn, understand or do things. and the money you raise will go towards fulfilling our vision for a world where all people are listened to, valued and included, and not discriminated against because of their learning disability.
Our dedicated team are always on hand to help advise you about your fundraising goals.