A gaggle of hardy fundraisers have accomplished a swim to an uninhabited Scottish island owned by Uri Geller to gather a rock for the movie star magician.

The Salty Selkies braved the Firth of Forth waters to swim to The Lamb final week.

Self-proclaimed psychic Mr Geller purchased the island, off North Berwick in East Lothian, in 2009.

He spent an evening on the basalt lump again in 2010 however forgot to take a rock dwelling with him after the expertise as a memento of the distant location.

Mr Geller additionally wished to check the age of rocks from The Lamb, as he believes there might be a connection between the Scottish outcrop and the Egyptian pyramids.

After studying about The Salty Selkies swimming previous the island a few years in the past, he requested the group for a stone to show in his museum in Jaffa, Israel.

Speaking from his dwelling in Tel Aviv, Mr Geller praised the swimmers for his or her epic journey as boats can not moor at The Lamb and the tides and currents make it harmful for these within the water.

The 76-year-old informed Sky News that his island was "worse than Alcatraz", the famed former most safety federal jail in San Francisco.

He stated: "What the swimmers did was tremendous superb. All of them have been completely and completely brave as a result of these are treacherous waters.

"They are very dangerous, and also, you never know when an underwater current could have swept them all away into the deep sea."

When the island went up on the market greater than 14 years in the past, Mr Geller stated he felt a "very strong instinctive urge to buy it" as he believes it is among the most vital websites in Britain.

He stated the volcanic outcrop is one in every of three within the Firth of Forth which mirror the format of the pyramids at Giza in Egypt.

Mr Geller stated: "I've always been fascinated by the connection between the pyramids and these islands."

Since buying The Lamb, Mr Geller has turned it right into a micronation and has a flag, structure and anthem.

Mr Geller stated he'll now get the rock examined earlier than displaying it inside his museum alongside an image of the swimmers.

Read extra from Uri Geller:John Lennon, aliens and recruiting citizens for his micronation

'We may have been swept alongside the coast'

The Salty Selkies turned the problem right into a charity fundraiser and have raised nearly £4,000 for Beach Wheelchairs, which gives specialist tools so individuals with mobility points can get out on the sand.

Mr Geller donated £1,000 to the fundraiser.

Group member Jo Lindsay stated: "We wanted to help Beach Wheelchairs as they do so much to help ease access to the beach for those who don't find it so easy.

"I imagine they've sufficient now to pay for the deposit for a brand new powered seaside wheelchair, which is incredible news."

Ms Lindsay said the members of the group, who have been swimming together for around five years, were "thrilled" it all went well.

She said: "We needed to plan it very fastidiously and ensure we timed the tides good as we may have been swept alongside the coast if we might acquired it fallacious."

The group brought the swim forward by a day as the conditions were "so a lot better" and took less than an hour to complete the challenge.

Ms Lindsay added: "We've swum past The Lamb many times but never very close, and to actually swim up to it and stand on the beach was wonderful.

"We felt an enormous sense of accomplishment but it surely additionally simply felt very calm and serene.

"As we left for the swim ashore, I was energised and invigorated and it was a really good strong swim - perhaps that's due to The Lamb's mystic powers.

"It's not daily you are challenged by Uri Geller and accumulating the rock for him was an exhilarating journey that all of us actually loved."