A STROUD man is taking on a marathon swimming challenge to raise money for the hospice that cared for his father.

Dom Thompson is swimming 21 lakes across the country to raise awareness of the support provided by the Sue Ryder hospice in Leckhampton.

The hospice looked after Dom's father, Denys, before he passed away in April 2017.

He has currently completed 16 lakes but was forced to return home following a knee injury and storms hitting Snowdonia.

Dom had spent four weeks on the road as part of the challenge and has driven 2,000 miles to lakes in Scotland, Wales and England.

He has dealt with freezing temperatures, sometimes getting up at 4am to swim before tourists descend on the lakes.

Dom described his journey as 'a real eye-opener'

"It's been an amazing experience. I have not had chance to properly digest it yet," he said.

Dom, who runs Footnote Music, was inspired to take up open water swimming after watching the documentary film 'Fishpeople'.

He began swimming almost every week before reading a list of the 21 most beautiful lakes in Britain and coming up with the idea for the challenge.

Father of two Dom has so far raised more than £1,600 but is hoping to reach his target of £2,000 by the time he completes the challenge.

He will soon be returning to Snowdonia and hopes to end the challenge in Ireland.

Later in the year Dom will be holding an exhibition in Cirencester where one photo from each of the lakes he has swam will be on sale.

To support Dom go to justgiving.com/fundraising/21lakes.