A woman from South East Cornwall will attempt to swim across the English Channel next month in aid of the Children's Hospice South West.

Jazmin Buxton, 24, from Quethiock, completed a six-hour sea swim at the weekend as part of her training. She says she was kept going by her thoughts of the inspirational bravery of the children and their families at the Little Harbour Hospice at St Austell.

The 21-mile Channel swim is known to be as hard as climbing Everest, and Jazmin, known as Jaz, will be swimming solo.

Jaz's grandmother June Bassett was a keen supporter of CHSW until she lost her battle with cancer in 2010. 'Sadly she will not see me swim the Channel, but this gives me even more reason to train hard and complete the challenge,' said Jaz, who added that thoughts of all those at the hospice has definitely been helping her through the tough days of training.

Jaz grew up in Quethiock and went to the village primary school until she was nine, and then moved to St Dunstan's Abbey in Plymouth. This was because she had meningitis when she was eight and was extremely ill. Afterwards she struggled with mainstream schooling and the long-term effects of her illness, so the decision was made to move schools.

She later gained an art scholarship and went to Plymouth College, where she now works in the Alumni Office.

'I am very proud of where I was born, and, because I still live in my home village, the CHSW's Little Harbour in Cornwall is important to me as a charity to support,' said Jaz. She says the community is being very supportive, for which she is very grateful.

'On a visit I saw first hand the amazing work the staff do for the children with life-limiting illnesses and their families. I was touched by the bravery of the children. It costs just over £2m a year to run each CHSW and this figure was an inspiration to me to raise money for such a worthy cause.'

You can sponsor Jaz's swim by visiting her Just Giving page https://www.justgiving.com/Jazminbuxton">https://www.justgiving.com/Jazminbuxton channelswim2013 and you can follow her training by liking her facebook page: https:http://www.facebook.com">www.facebook.com JazminBuxtonChannel Swim2013.