A seven-year-old schoolboy from Reading who has been raising money for Syrian refugees, is going on the trip of a lifetime over the weekend.
Joseph Purcell, a pupil at Holme Grange School in Wokingham, is going to visit several refugee camps along the border of Syria and Turkey.
Joseph decided he wanted to help displaced families after seeing a report on the conflict on Cbeebies and learning of the unrest and its impact on Syrian families.
One way, he thought, was to be sponsored for swimming the English Channel.
Although too young to swim the actual Channel, the seven-year-old set up a Just Giving page together with a website that charted his progress and managed to swim all 21 miles in local swimming pools over a period of 105 days.
Joseph's father, Greg, says that his son liked the idea of meeting the children he was raising money for.
After choosing a charity which the family felt was "grassroots and non-political", they arranged a post-swim trip to refugee camps in Turkey with Hand In Hand For Syria .
The Midlands-based charity provides medical and humanitarian assistance for those affected by the ongoing conflict.
A total of 1,879 laps later, Joseph and his family have flown out to Reyhanli in Hatay Province, eastern Turkey, where they will spend four days visiting camps just 30 miles from the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo.
The seven-year-old says he is looking forward to meeting the people he's raised money for and is bringing the children toys and books.
Joseph's "cross-Channel" swim is not his first fundraising adventure.
Last year, aged six, he did a sponsored climb up Mount Snowdon for Zanzibar In Action Project .
His parents Greg and Beth believe that his subsequent visit to ZAP-sponsored nursery schools, where the family brought children skipping ropes and footballs, gave him the idea that he could help the Syrian children when he saw them on TV.
The Purcells say they watched recent cross-border shelling intently but are relieved to see it has calmed down.
Mr Purcell admits he has concerns about the trip. "There is inherent risk in any experience of value but we are confident that the value well outweighs the calculated risk.
"We know that what Joseph will see will stay with him for a long time and help shape his outlook on the world he lives in and confirm his fundamental belief in the good nature of humanity."
