Ballakermeen High School teacher Amy Shelton has raised £440 for the British Red Cross’s Ukraine appeal by facing up to her fears and swimming in the sea for the very first time.

Mrs Shelton, who describes herself as being ‘scared of the sea, seaweed and sea creatures’, was accompanied by a gathering of staff and students at Fenella beach in Peel.

The science teacher was joined in the water by school colleague Jo Fulton, who coached Mr Shelton in swimming across the bay for the 15 minutes which she had been aiming for, before leaving the water to ‘cheers and applause’.

Mrs Shelton told the Independent: ‘I was very nervous going in and the water was very cold despite it being a beautiful day.

‘I managed to get most of the way in before the cold caught my breath, but I remembered the slow breathing technique that my midwife had taught me years ago, and that pulled me out of it quite quickly!’.

She continued: ‘I go to the beach with the children and paddle, but only ever up to the knee and avoiding any overly sea weed filled bits!.’

In particular, she explained that she is ‘genuinely terrified of the things beneath the waves – it makes me shudder’.

Her children cheered her on by waving a Ukrainian flag from the beach, where there were also Red Cross collection buckets placed.

Mrs Shelton added that she might consider swimming in the sea for fun now, having got in contact with the outdoor swimming group Manx Blue Tits.

Earlier in the year, Mrs Shelton and her tutor group undertook fundraising for the same BRC cause, and Amie Mitchell from the charity also came along to the dip.

In May the BHS year 11 group (aged 15 and 16) raised over £1,000.

She explained how the students had been moved by the events taking place in Ukraine, and the entire school year agreed that something should be done to help, with the Red Cross being voted on as a cause.

The school has also sent supplies to the Ukrainian border via Manx Support Refugees and the Joey Dunlop Foundation.

A Father’s day charity raffle will also be taking place on June 17, with £1 tickets still available from the school reception, and prizes available from a large number of local businesses.

Mrs Shelton drew attention to the stark statistics from the international Red Cross’s response in Ukraine so far.

These included: 1.8 million kilograms of aid delivered, £114,000 worth of hygiene supplies, £91,000 in transport or evacuation, £42,000 on first aid training and 891 humanitarian service points being operated in eleven countries, and 42,000 Red Cross volunteers responding.

People can still donate to Amy’s fundraiser by visiting the justgiving.com website and searching ‘Mrs Shelton’s very cold and wet fundraiser for British Red Cross’.