TWO SISTERS who swam the equivalent of the English Channel to raise money for charity have been jointly nominated for an award.

Abigail and Samara Craig undertook the challenge this spring and have now been nominated for the Young Community star of the Year Award in this year's Argus Community Stars Awards.

The Uckfield girls were among hundreds of people around the country who joined national charity Diabetes UK’s Swim22 challenge.

Abigail, 11 at the time, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was five years old so the family are well aware of the impact the condition can have on people’s lives.

She and sister Samara, then nine, from The Mount, Uckfield, set about swimming the 22 mile equivalent of the English Channel over three months in their local pool.

Starting on February 23, they set about swimming in Uckfield Leisure Centre's 25m pool every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons.

The Channel distance meant they had to complete 1,417 laps and it took them until May to complete the challenge, averaging in the region of between 35 and 54 laps per session.

Overall the girls swam for more than 19 hours, over the course of 31 sessions and they raised £830 - all despite coming down with stomach infections in the middle of their crucial swimming period.

Abigail said: “I know what it feels like to have Type 1 diabetes and it makes me want to do something about it.

“I hope one day a cure will be found for myself and for others with Type 1."

The exercise helped manage Abigail’s diabetes with her family finding her blood sugar levels are better while swimming than at any time before.

Mum Amanda, 38, said: “It’s great to know that we are helping the charity to support and improve the lives of the millions of people who are living with diabetes.”

After their triumph she added: "Abigail clicked her shoulder out and sometimes when her blood sugars were fluctuating we had to cancel swimming but no matter what her diabetes threw at us we did it."

The money they raised will be spent on research into pancreas and beta cell transplantation, which if successful would help stop the immune system from attacking the insulin-producing cells and represent a cure for diabetes.

Amanda said: “If this transplant could be done successfully then it would mean that Abigail would not have Type 1 diabetes (or any diabetes) and effectively be cured.”