Gorgeous day. Too good to be in doors. I see most of the scaffolding remains. It looks as if just the lift quarter is being removed, so my announcement two days ago was a little premature.

I caught this chap walking down the precinct today in a wet suit. He will be swimming the channel next Thursday for the charity Footsteps, who have worked miracles with his second son – born with severe cerebral palsy. The website is www.swiminasuit.com .

Tomorrow I will be having my last weekly swim in the outdoor pool of the season.  It closes after Sunday.  Most of the time the water has been warm despite the cool summer.  Only twice did it feel cold in the water.  Often there have just been the three lifeguards watching just me, or a small group, so despite free swimming for under 16s and a much better service I don’t think they did that well. It is so weather dependent.

This evening was the AGM (Annual General Meeting) of The Abingdon Bridge, or TAB, and I was suprised how many people were there.

TAB currently work from the building on the right, in front of the Old Gaol – alongside Abingdon Bridge proper. The Abingdon Bridge charity was set up in 1993 to help young people from 13-25 who need support to turn their lives around.

As part of the Old Gaol redevelopment TAB will be moving up Bridge Street to the Old Police Station some time next year. The hard decision will be how to reconfigure the old police cells so it works for TAB without loosing too much of the original building.

At the AGM, workers and volunteers talked about their work with great enthusiasm because they see it is a chance to change lives for the better.  Last year they helped 180 clients in 2400 person sessions, and saw over 1100 young people in workshops in schools for  drug / alcohol awareness etc. .

At the AGM, individual donors and donor organisations were there to support TAB because they see it as an important investment in the future of Abingdon. Both Children in Need and Red Nose Day have invested in projects at TAB. More donors are always needed to keep them going in the long term. For example, a project to help find young people housing is coming to the end of its funding from the Sobell Foundation.

In 1911 Douglas Macmillan started up the ‘Society for the Prevention and Relief of Cancer’. 100 years later Macmillan Cancer Support is still there to improve the lives of people affected by cancer. I asked this chap what it was like being 100 years old.