OXFORD East MP Anneliese Dodds and city councillors will take to the water on Friday to raise money to tackle poverty in central America.

The annual sponsored swim will take place at Hinksey open-air pool, from 4pm until 7pm in support of Oxford’s twin city of Leon in Nicaragua.

Deputy Lord Mayor, Altaf Khan and the Oxford East MP will open the event, before she also takes part.

She will be swimming along with Oxford City councillors, including Mike Rowley, Mark Lygo, Sian Taylor and honorary Alderman and former council leader, Bob Price.

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Last year’s sponsored swim raised £4,000 for clean-water projects in and around Leon.

Councillor John Tanner, chair of the Oxford-Leon Association, said: “With the political upheavals in Nicaragua it is even more important that Oxford strengthens its links with the people of Leon. This year we are raising funds for social and cultural projects in and around the university city of Leon.”

Oxford has been twinned with Leon since 1986 and is one of eight cities it is twinned with.

The others are Leiden, Bonn, Grenoble, Perm, Wroclaw, Padua and Ramallah in Palestine.