Students are attempting to swim the equivalent of the length of the English Channel.

The event will take place on 18^th November at the Winchester College swimming pool.

More than 20 swimmers, most of which are from the University of Winchester, will take part in swimming the 1,340 lengths it will take to complete the 350 miles of the channel.

This will be the second year the event has taken place after over £1000 was raised last year for the charity, double their target of £500.

Team captain Ally White said “We chose this charity because our treasurer last year had a family member affected by stroke; and its kind of in her legacy that we’ve carried this on, and wanted to do it again and we have families that have been affected by stroke. It’s a great charity and they do some great work looking after families and people affected by it. That’s why we support the charity.”

The society’s target for this year starts at £1000 as they hope to raise more than last year.

Volunteers in Winchester will be presented with a queen’s award for helping the homeless community.

Winchester Nightshelter will be hosting a supporters evening on November 16th with the award being presented by the Queen’s personal representative, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson.

With over one hundred people staying per year, the night shelter has been growing and continues to rely on volunteers to provide vital help.

Michele Price, manager of the Nightshelter, said “Without its volunteer cooks and overnight helpers the Nightshelter simply could not operate.

“The Nightshelter has been able to expand its services to offer residents individual programmes of mental health support, cookery workshops, financial and budgetary advice to help them progress to a stable, productive future.”

The evening will have contributions from staff members, volunteers and residents to show the impact that it has had on the homeless and the local community.

To mark the prestigious award, The Big Issue founder, Stephen Robertson will be speaking about the importance of The big issue for both the homeless and the public on the evening.

Thousands of vulnerable people have benefited from a café which uses food that would otherwise be destined for landfill.

FirstBite Cafe in Winchester has made meals for over 3,000 people, using surplus food from local charities, supermarkets, farms and allotments.

Debbie Lockett, the founder of FirstBite told Winol they had saved over 1,600 kilos of food from going to landfill – the equivalent of 4,000 loafs of bread.

‘What possible benefit is there of just chucking it all in the bin? So that not going in the bin and not creating noxious gases and all the energy to get it to the landfill site.’

The initiative helps those in the community who may be struggling with money as well as those who feel isolated, whilst at the same time, tackling the systematic food waste problem.

Liz Easton, a Parish Volunteer said:

‘We think that people who might be isolated can come here and make friends, join in and have a good conversation with other people, which helps self-esteem and mental health.’

The cafe is involved in other community events such as Silver Sunday which offers a get-together and a Sunday lunch for older people living alone as well as running cookery and healthy eating workshops in sheltered housing for young adults.