I moved down to Yeovil over a year ago now. I had been working as a physiotherapist for a number of years in a major trauma centre in Hull, East Yorkshire and fancied a change of scenery. My partner works for Leonardo in Yeovil so I decided to take the plunge and chug all my stuff down this side of the country. For the first few months it was fantastic. I joined a local gym community called BMB Fitness and this is where I met the two, die hard, Yeovil Rugby Club members Chloe Pincott and Rachel White who first encouraged me to join their rugby team. For some unknown reason I didn’t join straight away however as Covid hit I realised how much I missed team sports and competing. It was truly, a bad time to move into a new area so I wanted immerse myself into the community and make some new friends. So once lockdown eased in the summer last year, I tagged along to a training session and I have never looked back since. The girls and the coaches at the rugby club have been so welcoming and despite being a complete newbie to the sport they were quick to get me stuck straight in. I was super impressed with the level of commitment and the drive that everyone has at the club. I reckon it’s more infectious than Corona Virus! Club members are continuously fundraising for their club and various charities due to their great, kind hearted nature and this encouraged me to get involved in a fundraising event this year.
My twin sister and I commenced the Christmas period in true Covid fashion with a week of isolation in an Air B&B along the west coast of Ireland, in a place called Salthill in County Galway. We were awaiting results of a Covid test to make sure we were safe to spend the Christmas holidays with our parents and family. This beautiful place happens to be renowned for it’s sea dipping off the Blackrock Diving Tower despite the freezing temperatures of the Atlantic Ocean.
As we were both working remotely we decided to hop into the ocean for a few pre work dips and found great enjoyment from it even if it did take a bit of persuasion and bickering to get each other in! As we had plenty of time for thought and ‘googling’ we stumbled upon Cope Galway’s annual Christmas Swim. This event occurs between the 21st-30th of December and people are asked to complete one outdoor swim in any form in order to raise vital funds for their charity.
Cope Galway are a fantastic non-profit charity who aim to improve the quality of life of those affected by homelessness and domestic abuse through the provision of support services such as emergency accommodation and the Homelessness Prevention Scheme. They provide for vulnerable, elderly people in need of support whilst also advocating for policy and social change across local and national level such as improved access to housing and access to benefits and entitlements. Cope Galway relies heavily on fundraising events such as the Christmas swim in order to fund these support services. This past year has proven that these social groups have been the most severely affected by Corona Virus across the world so it was a no brainer that we decided to take on the challenge.
Our birthday happened to fall in the midst of the challenge on the 29th of December therefore we decided to go the extra mile and complete a dip every day for the 10 days, each day on a different beach as far as the current Covid rules would allow! Unfortunately, we live inland so there was quite a bit of driving involved. The nearest ocean swim is close to an hour’s drive away with the beaches spanning across two different counties. These beaches fall along the Wild Atlantic Way which is the longest coastal route in the world at 2,500km.
Tide times and day light hours in December left us with very limited choice but to do the swims often at sunrise or sunset. Although we were punished with early rises we were rewarded with spectacular scenery enjoyed in solitude on the white sandy beaches of the west coast. Every day we dipped in Artic waters often only 5-7 degrees warm which meant a quick sprint from sea to car seat where family members were quick on hand with a hot port or coffee. At the end of the challenge we had completed a total of 11 swims in 11 separate locations in 10 consecutive days. We had travelled a total distance of 1,411km for a total of 22 hours on the road. We also had the grace of experiencing Storm Bella on one of our swims where surfers were enjoying the 20 ft waves. I have to say that was our swiftest swim!
My sister and I introduced the birthday fundraising event on Facebook with the goal of generating £150 for Cope Galway. To our delight our goal was surpassed in under 10 hours due to the very generous and kind natured spirits of all those both at home and abroad who supported the campaign. We also received many messages questioning our mental state due to the nature of the challenge! To date we have now raised over €1000. We want thank all of the contributors and Cope Galway for their fantastic work and the support they provide. This year saw more than 870 participants from around the world who raised over an astounding €50,000 for Cope Galway. On a final note, a special mention to all the girls who supported us from Yeovil Rugby Club. For anyone wishing to join the sport and the close-knit community I would say do not to hesitate for a second!
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