2025 Swim Through Darkness

WEEK ONE

Tonight is swim number seven of this year’s Swim Through Darkness campaign. I’ll be in the water every night this December.

In the week leading up to the first swim, new figures were released about the state of mental health here. They weren’t good. The numbers keep climbing. It’s hard to hear, and harder still to know what to do about it.

Sometimes I question whether swimming back and forth along cold beaches at night makes any difference at all. But it’s what I know how to do, so I keep going.

Last year, while speaking as an ambassador for Pieta, I said exactly that — that I wasn’t sure any of this helped. Renee Quinn from PIPS took the mic in the audience and told me to continue anyway. Her point was simple: we don’t get to know the impact. We just do the work. Renee is pushing for proper government funding to support people here, and she’s relentless about it.

The campaign has changed shape a few times since it began in 2020. It’s raised awareness, started conversations, and brought in around £28,000 for various charities. Earlier this year, filmmaker Joe Warden included the campaign in a short film and raised a further £1,500 at a screening.

But things are different now. With so many people struggling financially, asking for donations feels wrong. So I’ve shifted the focus. This year is less about fundraising and more about giving something useful in return — tools, perspective, and whatever else I can offer. That means using social media more intentionally, and swimming less, because I can’t do everything at once. There’s no team, no sponsor, no safety net. Just me, doing what I can.

Tonight’s conditions look decent. The moon is dropping off full, so the tides are easing. There’s still a bit of leftover swell, and cloud cover keeping the air warmer than it should be for December.

I’ll get into the water soon.

Thanks for being here.