Sunderland group Wild Sea Women set fundraising challenge to fund vital safety equipment at Seaburn

By taking part in the Wild Winter Women challenge, the growing group of cold water swimmers will commit to dip in the North Sea between one and five times a week from November 2021 through to 31 March 2022.

Wild Sea Women was established by Sunderland-resident Hayley Dorian in June 2020 and began with just a handful of women keen to connect and dip in the sea together for their health and wellbeing.

Since then, the group has taken off, capturing the imagination of swimmers and now has 8,000 members across the North East and into Scotland.

Hayley said: “We are so lucky to have this amazing coastline on our doorstep and when I established Wild Sea Women I hoped it would encourage more people to enjoy the benefits of sea- dipping as much as I do. But in the last eighteen months it has grown bigger and faster than I could have hoped or imagined.

“The reasons for setting the challenge are two-fold… firstly, while we all take safety seriously, looking out for each other, wearing tow floats, being mindful of the conditions and taking advice from the coastguard, we really do need some specialist equipment when we dip at Seaburn.

“100% of the profits made from donations to the Wild Winter Women challenge will go into making our community and beaches a safer place to dip. We are collaborating with Red Sky Foundation to raise money for a defibrillator, as well as tow-floats for anyone to borrow and to have lifebuoys installed.”

The women arrange to meet for regular sea dips throughout the day, seven days a week, with the earliest going in around 5.30am and then others dipping later in the day or early evening.

Rules are that no one must dip alone, ever, and everyone is encouraged to wear a tow-float so they can be seen.

To donate and support the WIld Sea Women challenge, visit https://redskyfoundation.enthuse.com/pf/wildseawomen-08722

Support your Echo and become a subscriber today.

Enjoy unlimited access to all of our news and sport, see fewer ads, experience faster load times, test your brain with daily puzzles and get access to exclusive newsletters.

Your support for our journalism means we can continue telling Sunderland’s stories for generations to come. Click here to subscribe - and click here to get a snapshot of the Echo’s news and sport to your inbox through our email newsletters.