A YOUNG Neilston swimmer has put her talent to use for charity in the hope it will help to cure her mum’s diabetes.

Kind-hearted Holly Millar, 10, vowed to take on the Swim 22 Challenge to raise money for Diabetes UK after reading about the initiative while scrolling through mum Alana’s Facebook account.

While most swimmers who attempt the challenge are given three months to swim 22 miles, the Ren 96 club member took just over four weeks to complete the 1,408 lengths.

Friends and family pledged to sponsor Holly for every length she covered at the pools in Neilston Leisure Centre, Barrhead Foundry and Eastwood Leisure Centre.

The Neilston Primary pupil repaid that faith and, after swimming the equivalent of the English Channel, is already planning her next fundraising activity.

Touched by her daughter’s determination, 46-year-old Alana, who has had diabetes since she was five, said: “I’m proud of her for raising the money for Diabetes UK.

“She’s raised £505 and finished two months early. She was on my Facebook and I’ve got diabetic pages on my news feed. She saw a post from the Swim 22 Challenge page and said ‘I can do that!’

“At that point, I didn’t realise she was being serious – she was only nine at the time.

“They came back and said she’d maybe like to swim the child’s one, which is 2.2 miles, but I said she’d want to do the big one.

“She wanted to complete it as soon as she could but she had a couple of competitions in between.

“Holly’s already talking about doing it again next year and she might try a run as well.”

Type 1 diabetic Alana relies on an insulin pump to get by from day to day.

The lengths that her daughter has gone to for her – quite literally – didn’t come as a surprise, so great is Holly’s desire to bring an end to the daily struggle her mum faces.

Alana added: “I’m the only one in my family (who has diabetes) and I’m on a pump. Holly would love there to be a cure one day and she’ll do anything she can to help.”

Each week thousands of men and women in the UK suffer hearts attacks, heart failures, strokes and blindness because of diabetes.

The Swim 22 campaign provides information, care and support so those affected can stay healthy, manage their condition and avoid life-threatening complications.

Although she has finished the challenge, Holly’s JustGiving account is still open for donations. To support her efforts, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Holly-Millar-10