The Great East Swim outreach programme has been launched for the ninth year aimed at helped swimmers taking part in the 2020 race.

More tan 470 individuals have taken part in the programme to date and have changed their lives for the better and become more active.

The programme is delivered by Suffolk County Council and supported by Active Suffolk which provides an opportunity for you and your friends or relatives to take part in a progressive programme of training and support to help you get active, with the goal of taking part in the Great East Swim on Saturday 20 June 2020.

The programme is open to individuals aged 18+ who are currently inactive: This means you must be doing less than 30 minutes physical activity per week to qualify for a place on the programme.

The programme culminates with participants taking on the challenge of either a half mile or 1 mile open water swim in Alton Water Reservoir in Holbrook, Suffolk.

On these pages you will find everything you need to know and do to be part of this amazing project. As well as understanding all the support you will be receiving, you will find the participant criteria, course locations and dates, be able to register your interest and read about what happened to some of the previous participants:

Click here [L] www.activesuffolk.org [+L] Active Suffolk [.L] for programme information and eligibility criteria.

Please ensure that you read the eligibility criteria prior to submitting your application. This programme is targeted at individuals who are currently inactive (doing less than 30 minutes moderate to vigorous activity per week.

)Moderate activity will raise your heart rate, and make you breathe faster and feel warmer. One way to tell if you're working at a moderate level is if you can still talk, but you can't sing the words to a song.

Vigorous activity makes you breathe hard and fast. If you're working at this level, you won't be able to say more than a few words without pausing for breath.