SPONSORED swims are being held in pools across Oxfordshire. But those taking part are different from the usual fundraisers – the swimmers are all babies and toddlers.

Tots who take part in Water Babies swimming classes are joining in a mass splashathon for Tommy’s, a charity which funds medical research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth.

Each of the youngsters will be having a go at a new challenge – such as swimming through a hoop, a first solo swim or going under the water with their parent.

Saz Sunthareswaran, who runs Water Babies Oxford, said: “All 1,000 babies who swim with us will have a chance to do a sponsored swim.

“I know lots of our mums have suffered problems, and I have myself in the past, so it’s quite close to our hearts.”

A similar fundraising event was run in 2009 and families from Water Babies Oxford raised £3,000, towards a total of £230,000 in Water Babies classes across the country.

Mrs Sunthareswaran said she hoped to raise £5,000 this year.

Jon Forrest, 42, from Aston Rowant, takes his six-month-old son Max, pictured, to a class at the Ozone Health Club, at Oxford’s Kassam Stadium.

He said: “He absolutely loves it, it’s fantastic."