Film star taking on gruelling coastal challenge

Two film and screen actors have swapped scripts for swim caps as they prepare for a coastal challenge.

Good Omens stars Miranda Richardson and Maggie Service will head to Norfolk with the aim of raising £100,000 for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

They plan to enter the water at Blakeney Harbour and cross the estuary to Pinchen's Creek in a 3.5km (2.2 miles) tidal open water swim.

Richardson said: "I've never done anything quite like this before. I'm not a professional swimmer. I came to sea swimming relatively late, after a bracing dip in Ireland a few years ago, but I've grown to love it."

Richardson is a twice-Oscar nominated star known for her role as Rita Skeeter in three of the Harry Potter films - as well as Damage, Sleepy Hollow and Made in Dagenham, and TV's Blackadder.

The 67-year-old WWF ambassador said: "I wanted to take on this swim with my willing chum Maggie as a challenge for both mind and body. But it's also about raising awareness of the beauty and fragility of our natural habitats.

"We're swimming in an area of Norfolk where saltmarsh, freshwater and sea all meet - an extraordinary habitat that shows just how connected everything is and reminds us how vital it is to protect and restore these links across our landscapes."

The pair have been performing together in the Amazon Prime series Good Omens, starring David Tennant and Martin Sheen.

They are keen to raise the profile of WWF's A Prescription for Nature campaign, that encourages people to get their daily dose of nature for personal wellbeing.

Service said: "Our friendship began in tea breaks on a television job we did together when we realised we had a shared love of animals, nature and swimming.

"Outdoor swimming is a tonic for the body and the soul.

"If we restore nature, it can restore us."

Their challenge is planned for Saturday 9 August, with more than £12,000 already pledged on their JustGiving page.

Louise Oakley, WWF's director of events and community fundraising, added: "Norfolk is home to some of the country's most important waterways, and we're working to restore these vital landscapes for people and wildlife alike."

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