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Kylie Minogue appointed OBE ... a charity sponsored swim across the English Channel to raise money for a maternity hospital in Afghanistan.

The women range in age from 26 to 65, and hope to raise £50,000 for Afghan Mother and Child Rescue (AMCR).

They are due to take turns swimming, and aim to cover the 21 miles from Dover to Cap Gris Nez near Calais by Sunday evening.

The money they raise will go towards building a 10-bed hospital.

This will be located in a remote area of the Panjsher valley in collaboration with Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health.

The women, who expect to be in the water for up to 20 hours, have been training intensively since May and coached by Freda Streeter, the mother of Alison Streeter, who has completed 43 solo Channel crossings to date.

The six swimmers are Clare Doyle, 64, Martha Fray, 56, Lorraine Jones, 56, Anne Macalpine-Leny, 51, Maree Mitchell, 31, and Alice Constance, 26.

All are members of the Serpentine Swimming Club in London's Hyde Park.

Ms Macalpine-Leny said: "The hardest thing is going to be the cold and the other thing is the strength of the currents and the waves.

"We wanted to raise money for the charity as we know exactly where it's going. "These areas are very remote - it is very difficult for the women to get any good maternity care at all and we think our struggle is nothing compared to what these women go through."

(BBC)

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