Well-known mental health and human rights solicitor Lucy Scott-Moncrieff is taking the plunge – again – and all in a good cause.

Some of you may recall sponsoring Lucy when she swam the Hellespont in 2008. One of the subtle pleasures of the swim, she says, was knowing that she was crossing from one continent to another – Europe to Asia.

Looking for a swim with even more kick, she has now signed up to swim from the UK to the US... or, at least, from the jurisdiction of the UK to the jurisdiction of the US.

She explains: ‘The British Virgin Islands are a UK overseas territory, and the US Virgin Islands are an "organised unincorporated US territory" (so Wikipedia tells me), each subject to the jurisdiction of their respective mainlands.

‘In March I am swimming the length of the BVI, and on the last day, swimming to the nearest USVI, or as near to it as the Department of Homeland Security allows... we may not be able to land, but will be allowed into US territorial waters, which allows me to make my slightly dubious claim of swimming between legal continents.

‘Of course I am doing this for pleasure, but seeing as the BVI are close to Haiti, it seems a good fit to try and raise money for the victims of the earthquake at the same time. All donations will go to the Disaster Emergency Committee, and I will be asking that they be used for the benefit of any person with a mental or physical disability, however caused, on Haiti.’

You can sponsor Lucy by visiting: www.justgiving.com/lucysm.