A WOMAN aims to jump out of her comfort zone to make a positive impact to people's lives.

Sian Williams, 45, will be taking part in a 3km sponsored swim in Snowdonia, in a bid to raise funds for Citizen's Advice Flintshire (CAF).

Ms Williams has been involved with CAF for about 14 years and she said she has seen first hand just how much the charity relies on fundraising.

She told the Leader: "I've been involved with CAF for 14 years and I was a solicitor before that. I wanted to help people and when I got into that I quickly realised it wasn't what I wanted to do. I didn't feel I was making a positive difference in peoples lives.

"It got to the point where I thought it wasn't for me and I went travelling with a backpack and when I came back to the UK and didn't know what to do.

"I thought Citizens Advice was a good organisation, they don't make money from people and they help. There's hardly any legal aid now, if you can't afford a solicitor you're stuck.

"It's got tougher and tougher for the public as we have seen different governments and different policies and funding cuts as well as uncertainty over Brexit. All the challenges out there, more people need to come here.

"More services are being cut and we are seeing more people than ever needing help. We need to help as much as we can."

The lake, which is approximately 120 length of an average swimming pool, will be about 10C and Ms Williams said it will be a challenge.

She added: "Last summer I decided I needed a challenge and I saw the Big Welsh Swim. I've done a few runs and wanted to do something different, that's old news and I needed to do something challenging. I thought swimming because that will stretch me out of my comfort zone.

"It's a bit scary, I've never done any distance swimming at all..

"I'm not amazingly fit. I've got eight weeks left and I'm hoping I don't get cramp or get ill. It's all well when I'm training in Wrexham but when I'm in the lake I've just got to keep going.

"We didn't have to worry about fundraising back in the day but now as things get tougher we need to get ahead of the game or we wont survive. We can't sit here and expect people to give you money."

Anyone wishing to sponsor Sian can do so via the JustGiving page at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=Sian.Williams&pageUrl=10.