HUNDREDS of people made a splash for charity at the weekend.

Havens Hospices held its annual Great Pier Swim on Saturday with swimmers taking on a 3.3km open water swim from Chalkwell Beach to City Beach, just the other side of the pier, to raise money for the charity which cares for seriously ill adults and children at its two hospices, Fair Havens and Little Havens.

Nearly 200 swimmers took part in the challenge which is the only open water swim that passes under Southend Pier,. Also joining in the fun were children between the ages of eight and 14 who completed the 100m Seal Swim at City Beach.

Rikki Hamlin, events fundraiser at Havens Hospices, said, “Havens Hospices doesn’t charge a penny for its care and that is only thanks to people in the community who take part in our events and come out to support us.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to all our amazing volunteers, EDMS Medical, the water safety team and Southend Coastguard for all their help in making this event what it is.

“We’d also like to thank our fantastic sponsors Olympus Keymed and Tri n Swim Well for helping us deliver this event to Southend once again.

“The conditions were difficult, so well done to all our swimmers for completing the race and raising funds to help us continue ‘making every day count’ for adults, children and their families across Essex.”