THOUSANDS of pounds have been raised for charities thanks to the efforts of everyone involved in Poole Lions' annual swimarathon.

The event, which took place at Poole's Dolphin Swimming Pool this weekend, is a regular fixture on the town's fundraising calendar.

Poole Lions' Graham Starr, one of the swimarathon organisers, told the Daily Echo: “We have had a few empty lanes in the early afternoons of both Saturday and Sunday, but for the rest of the time it has been busy.

“Bournemouth Collegiate School filled eight lanes - a shining example. They were really, really good and so were Broadstone Scouts and Montacute School.

“This is now in its 37th year, we have some new members and we look forward to refreshing the event for 2016 for yet another successful year.”

Spread over Saturday and Sunday, the swimarathon consisted of teams of six swimmers and a non-swimming captain.

Each team member swam one lap of the 25m pool in a relay, clocking up as many lengths as possible over 55 minutes, and there was a range of trophies to aim for, from most sponsorship to special achievement.

Less experienced swimmers and special needs swimmers were able to swim one lap (25m) across the 12.5m width of the pool at the shallow end.

The funds raised by this year's charity event will be shared between Lewis-Manning Hospice, Montacute School, which needs specialist equipment, Chestnut Nursery, which provides sheltered work opportunities, and the Purple Teardrop Campaign refuge for trafficked women.

Mr Starr said: “Volunteers from the organisation Young Dorset helped with the running of the raffle, they proved to be really good young men.”