A trio of local women from Teddington Theatre Club (TTC) are swimming to raise money for Hampton Hill Theatre.

 Lara Parker, Juanita Al-Dahhan and Siân Walters, ('Team Drama Queen') will try and swim as many lengths of Teddington pool as possible in an hour at 12 noon on the 17 September. The swimathon is organised by Twickenham Rotary Club, but the funds raised from the three will go towards running repairs for Hampton Hill Theatre.

 Mum of one and a nurse, Lara said: "To be publicised amongst your fellow friends in a swimming costume and a silly hat is not everyone's idea of fun but, why not- we'll go for it."

 Speaking of her other teammates, Lara said they were all very different from each other but "we're all just a bit bonkers together".

Junita (left), Sian (middle) and Lara (right). (Photo: Joanna Taylor and Hampton Pool)

 Aware of the challenge ahead, Lara said: "We are all ladies of a certain age, none of us are gym bunnies, none of us are particularly fit."

 Acknowledging the swimathon is a "real challenge" for the trio and "not something we're going to find easy", Lara hopes to drum up support from family and friends.

Without pausing too much for breath, Junita and Lara will finish the swimathon and then dash off to theatre rehearsals at 4pm that afternoon. Junita is directing Dario Fo's They don't pay? We won't pay!, and Lara is in TTC's half-term family show, Treasure Island.

Finding herself on stage

 A member for seven years, Lara found TTC through social media channels and various amateur dramatic group. Reflecting on her time at TTC, Lara said: "For me, I've made so many friends had it not been for TTC and Hampton Hill, I would never have met, and I would be bereft without them."

 "I've found bits of myself I didn't think I'd be brave enough to show to other people. It's been a real journey for me- something I've found friendships and guidance through."

 Through TTC, Lara won a Swan Award for Best Supporting Actress from Richmond Arts- a voluntary charity representing the borough's arts sector- something she "never thought [she] would do".

The three are participating in a fundraising swimathon Sunday 17 September at noon. (Photo: Joanna Taylor and Hampton Pool)

 An avid participant of the group, participating in at least one production a year, Lara spoke of the honour of being the play, The Revlon Girl, about the Aberfan disaster, with four other women and directed by a woman. "To be part of something which was a part of history was such a privilege," she said.

 At the other end of the spectrum, in pantomime season, "You come out in your costume and have little four and five-year-olds looking at you like you're a hero," Lara said. "And in your mind you're just like: I'm just someone's mum."

 TTC and the theatre is not only a crucial part of Lara's life, it is also becoming an important part of her son's. Only 11, Lara said he is already desperate to joint Young Action Theatre (YAT) for 16-and-over.

A theatre in "dire straits"

 TTC are in the process of fundraising for its home, the 25-year-old Hampton Hill Theatre, which is in "dire need" of running repairs such as a new roof and redoing the air conditioning, and the fire safety system.

"The theatre itself and TTC are doing absolutely everything we can to manage the finances," Lara said. "If it wasn't for the fact that we need these running repairs, we wouldn't be in dire straits."

 She added: "Anything we earn from production just gets poured back into the building and the next production."

 Hampton Hill Theatre is a public space a with two functioning bars, three different rehearsal spaces (including an auditorium, studio space and a dance room), archives, well-stocked costume and prop cupboards, stage and scene decorations.

The theatre is also hired out to children's clubs, weekly meetings for various functions, as well as hosting christenings, parties, wedding receptions.

From left to right, Lara, Sian and Junita. (Photo: Joanna Taylor and Hampton Pool)

"It's such a wonderful and special place to be part of," Lara said. "Doing everything I can to keep it running keep it going for the next 25, 50, 75, 100 years, is so important to me."

Lara Parker, Junita and Siân Walters through their Just.Giving page or see them compete on the day.