A SPORTS coach had a spring in his step by helping fellow swim squad members to raise cash for the NHS.

Dan Walsh from Trafford Metro squad encouraged 200 people aged between seven and 70 to do a sponsored skip-a-thon and so far £3,500 has been raised.

He said: "It was fantastic and skipping has been one way we have been training out of the water during lockdown.

"It was good to get all those people together for 24 hours to do it.

"I could see the kids enjoying it.

"Everyone seemed to love it and it was a real success on Facebook and Instagram and we have been asking them to name and time stamp their amount of different skips they had done.

"I think everyone has an association with the NHS - some of the members of the club are part of the NHS - or seeing the doctors and nurses working so hard to save lives has had an impact on us.

"I think with the community at the club, there was a family feel in wanting to all help the NHS. We did it on the Bank Holiday as we wanted to tie as many people down to do it as we could as they would not be working.

"We think that there must have been done for 19,130 revolutions in total as you could be looking at people doing between 200 and 400 in half an hour.

"We have decided to do it as it would make a difference to NHS staff.

"Five pound could get a meal for a person, while £50 would be enough for them to keep in touch with their families who have to stay away while the are working by using a tablet or their phone."