17 July 2017                                                                                                                               IMMEDIATE

Press contact: Alan Ali on 07403 147 311 aladdinpr@yahoo.co.uk and armanalan.ali@gmail.com

NEWS

Customer's Arctic Circle swim raises £373 for charity-run café

A regular at local charity the Camden Society's social enterprise, Flapjacks café, in Kentish Town has raised £373 by taking part in an open water swimming competition. Last Saturday, 15 July, he took on the Torne River where he bravely swam across the border between Sweden and Finland, as well as across the Arctic Circle and the time zone.

Ian Johnson happened upon the social enterprise café in Kentish Town, which supports people with a learning disability, by chance last year and quickly became a regular. After getting to know the staff he decided to raise money for The Camden Society so that even more people with a learning disability could achieve their ambitions and live the lives they choose.

The charity offers training, apprenticeships and jobs in its London-wide chain of social enterprise cafés. This enables people with a learning disability to get into the world of work in catering and hospitality so that they can live independent, fulfilling lives in the community.

A keen Open Water swimmer, Ian uses his passion to help charities. His previous charity swims include Alcatraz to San Francisco and the River Humber. And he is currently in training for the English Channel Dover to France.

Ian says:

"After meeting the remarkable crew at Flapjacks, I decided to use this swim to help those at Flapjacks and The Camden Society. The staff are so friendly and there is always a "service with smiles". The place has become very close to my heart."

Camden Society chief executive, Denise Largin adds:

"It's tremendous that Ian has struck up such a good relationship with our team at Flapjacks that he decided to swim across the Arctic Circle to raise cash to support our vital work with people with a learning disability. The money he has raised will be put to immediate good use providing career opportunities for the people we support."

If you feel inspired you can still donate to The Camden Society at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/IanJohnson33

Photo of Ian having just competed his Arctic swim attached. 

ENDS                                                                                                                                         (328 words)

Press contact: Alan Ali on 07403 147 311 aladdinpr@yahoo.co.uk and armanalan.ali@gmail.com

The Camden Society www.thecamdensociety.co.uk campaigns for the rights of people with learning disabilities and supports them in living full and independent lives. It delivers housing support, employment and community services across London and in Oxfordshire for over 700 people a week. It established Unity Kitchen in 2010 as a sustainable and self-sufficient way of generating money to fund the charity's work while providing employment and training for people with disabilities.