A nine-year-old is hoping to raise £20,000 for Gaza by swimming the distance of the English Channel.

Haris Ali of Preston took up the challenge a few weeks ago and is hoping to complete the feat by the end of August.

He has already raised over £8,000 through sponsorship and donations. He is swimming almost daily at his local swimming pool in Preston.

Haris told us, ‘For some time now I have been thinking of how I can use my talent to help others who are less fortunate. “With the current crisis in Palestine, I knew that now was the time to do my bit for the people of Palestine to bring back their homes.

“So I decided that I would attempt to swim the equivalent of the English Channel, which is 21 miles, over a period of 4-6 weeks.”

Swimming 21 miles is equivalent to the length of 323 football pitches and 420 times round a tennis court. By the time Haris completes his challenge he will have swam a colossal 1344 lengths of a 25 metre pool, that's 64 lengths for each mile.

Haris, who attends St Pius X Prep School, Fulwood added, ‘I am currently on my school summer holiday and will be dedicating an hour each day to swim a mile.

"I hope to take each day at a time and take a break once or twice a week. “I feel overwhelmed by all the support that I have had from family, friends and even people who I don’t know.

“I am very hopeful that lots and lots more people will help me raise money for this just cause.”

Proud parents Bilal and Munira Patel said, ‘Though it can't even be remotely compared to the situation in Gaza, Haris wanted to do something big, something that was out of his comfort zone.

“This was his own idea and we as parents are on hand all the time to support him all the way. “He has been swimming ever since he was young and he has taken on this challenge with great spirit and passion.

"Together with everyone’s prayers he seems to be doing a fantastic job so far. He checks his Just Giving and Facebook pages on a regular basis and particularly enjoys reading all the lovely comments that are left for him. “It would be amazing if he could reach the £20,000 target by the end of the month.”

The money will be donated to the Ummah Welfare Trust.

The charity is currently in the process of identifying a specific project that the money raised from Haris' swim will fund.

You can donate now to Haris by viewing (visiting): www.justgiving.com/ swim4palestine/ www.facebook.com/ swim4palestine