Eaves News July 2011

The way we were: swimmming

The way we were: swimming

Lord Byron recalls a swim in Venice in a letter to John Murray, 21st February 1821

Of what may be done in swimming, I will mention one more instance. In 1818, the Chevalier Mengaldo (a gentleman of Bassano), a good swimmer, wished to swim with my friend Mr Alexander Scott and myself. As he seemed particularly anxious on the subject, we indulged him. We all three started from the island of the Lido and swam to Venice. At the entrance of the Grand Canal, Scott and I were a good way ahead, and we saw no more of our foreign friend, which, however, was of no consequence, as there was a gondola to hold his clothes and pick him up. Scott swam on till past the Rialto, where he got out, less from fatigue than from chill… I continued my course on to Santa Chiara, comprising the whole of the Grand Canal (besides the distance from the Lido), and got out where the Laguna once more opens to Fusina. I had been in the water, by my watch, without help or rest, and never touching ground or boat, four hours and twenty minutes… The distance we could not accurately ascertain; it was of course considerable.

Travel writer and adventurer Patrick Leigh Fermor, who died on 10th June, swam the Hellespont, the channel that links the Mediterranean to the Sea of Marmara, at the age of 69. He recounts this feat in a letter to Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, 18th December 1984

Next day we got to Channakale, where the Hellespont is about a mile across, steep ridges of Asia on our side, and of Europe on the other. I’d always longed to have a try swimming across, and suddenly confronted, couldn’t very well wriggle out. Next day I dived in not far from where HMS Goliath was sunk in 1915. I slogged along after the skiff, Joan [his wife] shouting encouragement and instructions across the stern… It seemed quite easy at first, the landmarks—lighthouses, mountains, minarets, forts—exchanged places with heartening speed, and the dreaded current didn’t seem too strong. A huge Russian tanker loomed from the north leaving a strong wash behind it which kept lifting me up and dropping me again. Only when we were halfway did I start to feel the dread current. The water suddenly became choppy and ruffled, and hard to make headway in… I tried swimming on my back, but what with the clash of currents, the steamers’ wash, and, by now, the midday waves, I couldn’t keep direction, so thrashed on as before. I was very tired, but I must have made some headway at last; things began to look up when Ahmed cut off the skiff’s engine to avoid running aground. There were pebbles underfoot, and Joan shouted “You’ve done it!”, and soon I was stumbling ashore amid slippery boulders and green seaweed. I sloshed back into the water again with a gravelly handful of Europe, and was hauled aboard with joyful cries, feeling exhausted but jubilant… I had got to the other side at 12.45pm after swimming for exactly 2 hours and 55 minutes. I’m not quite sure how far it was but I think 3-4 miles. I was certain I had beaten all records for slowness and length of immersion, a wreath no future swimmer is likely to snatch at.”

Writer and Bloomsbury Group member Frances Partridge visits her friend Janetta Jackson in Spain, 21st August 1962

By the time we reached Janetta’s house it must have been 3am… The shock of arrival was stupendous—the breathless moonlit walls, mountains still magically clear and sharp with a starry sky behind… Janetta and I sat by the swimming-pool talking for an hour… All ordinary rules of life are in abeyance here. It will be a pleasure to discover the new ones. The heat by day is intense, and the only way to keep cool is to get into the swimming-pool at least every hour or so. Last night I couldn’t sleep till I had stolen out in the darkness and submerged myself in the tepid water. One is alert, rather stimulated all the time; the heat is so violent it’s nearly an enemy.

Article featuring our charity

Human trafficking is modern slavery

This $32bn business is nothing less than serious, international, organised crime and must be fought with cross-border laws

• Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
• guardian.co.uk, Saturday 2 July 2011 23.04 BST

As a result of a relentless campaign led by William Wilberforce, slavery was "abolished" in this country in 1807. Yet sadly it still exists. United Nations figures suggest that 800,000 people are trafficked annually in one form or another.

Modern slavery assumes a different mantle from the slavery of Wilberforce's day. Then, it was part of everyday life. Today's slavery is more insidious, hidden from public gaze.

It takes many forms. Debt bondage, where gangs bring individuals illegally into this country then require them to pay off an artificially inflated debt through their labour. Trafficking of women for the purposes of sexual exploitation: the trafficker receives recompense or a percentage of earnings – again hugely inflated. Trafficking of children, either for petty crime or more serious crimes such as ATM thefts and begging. Children under 10 are increasingly trained for criminal activity, since they fall below the age of criminal responsibility.

Human trafficking is nothing less than serious, international, organised crime: the money generated from it (an estimated $32bn per annum) is only marginally less than from arms dealing and drug smuggling.

In the past decade, the government has launched a number of initiatives. These include extending legislation to apprehend traffickers, to confiscate their property, and to compensate victims found here; the funding of the Poppy Project to offer adult victims accommodation and support; and the creation of the Human Trafficking Centre. But the numbers of people trafficked into this country continues to grow. Given the home secretary's statement last year that tackling trafficking is a "coalition priority", the hope is that the government's new strategy, expected to be announced this month, will build on the steps taken by the last government and keep Britain at the forefront of the anti-trafficking fight.

One issue the strategy should focus on is prevention. Too often vulnerable people are lured with false promises of a better life, only to find themselves enslaved on arrival. The Human Trafficking Foundation, of which I am a founding trustee, is supporting and assessing a prevention programme in Romania that provides educational and vocational help to vulnerable girls and boys. I would welcome government support for such projects.

More also needs to be done to disrupt trafficking networks, which requires better coordination between law enforcement, social care and immigration agencies, but also constant dialogue with agencies working "at the coalface" that have valuable practical knowledge to share.

Finally, the cross-border nature of trafficking means our fight must be carried out in close liaison with our EU partners and at many levels – to hold governments to account; across police forces, to ensure targets are agreed and met; within immigration services across Europe, to ensure staff are better able to spot trafficking victims. To this end the Human Trafficking Foundation, together with ECPAT UK and the Asociata High Level Group in Romania, is about to launch a two-year initiative funded by the European Commission and the Tudor Trust to recruit and inform national parliamentarians throughout the EU.

Lady Butler-Sloss serves on the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking

· guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011