Safety & FAQs
The Mental Health Swims Disclaimer
- Mental Health Swims CIC is a peer support community. You enter the water at your own risk and must be responsible for your safety at all times. Swim hosts are not responsible for your safety.
- Mental Health Swims is not supposed to take the place of professional treatment or therapy. For advice and help, please look at the list of amazing charities you can talk to at https://hubofhope.co.uk
- If you are considering joining one of our swim meets and have any medical concerns, it’s important that you speak to your GP before attending.
- You are responsible for any possessions that you bring to a swim. Swim hosts are not responsible for your possessions.
The above disclaimer will form part of the More Human booking system and all guests at a Mental Health Swims Meet will need to agree to it before confirming their booking.
Safety
Swimming outdoors is such a joyful experience, but the sea, lakes and rivers all come with risks. Please do your research before entering the water. Please see below link for useful tips from the Outdoor Swimmer website.
www.outdoorswimmer.com/open-water-safety
We welcome all levels of experience but expect everybody to be responsible for their own safety and make sure they don’t do more than they are capable of. We happily welcome paddlers and those who want to have a splash in the waves as well as those who would rather stay dry on the beach.
What To Bring With You
- A swimsuit, wetsuit or something like leggings and a t-shirt to wear in the water
- Lots of easy to put on clothing – jogging bottoms, layers, fleeces, dressing gowns or a changing robe (A lot of us don’t bother with underwear)
- A towel – the sort you can pull over your head are great for changing on the beach
- A woolly hat and scarf
- A hot drink and snack – Cake is always a good option
- Tow float (if you have one)
- Waterproof case for phone and valuables (you can get very cheap ones online for less than a fiver)
- An easy bag to carry it all in – we personally love a blue IKEA bag
- Bag and gloves for the litter pick
Is cold water dipping safe?
Dipping in cold water has incredible benefits, but it has risks too. After drop, cold water shock and hypothermia are real concerns but with some research and planning these risks are hugely reduced.
- Start dipping during the summer months when the water is less cold (it is always cold in the UK)
- Check the weather and tide times before each dip
- Find out if there are rip tides or underwater hazards at your dipping spot
- Gather in the shallows where you can stand in the water
- Never swim alone
- Wear bright swim hats and bring a tow float if you have one so you can be seen if you get into trouble
- Get your clothes ready and put them in order so you can get dressed as quickly as possible
- Bring a flask of something hot for after your dip to help warm you up.
What to expect at a swim meet
You will be able to find your nearest Mental Health Swims meet up on our Swim Map. Once you have located your local swim, you can book onto it via the More Human event link so that the host knows to expect you. When you book on you will be sent details of the time and meeting point.
On the day of the meet, the swim host will be waiting to welcome you at the meeting point with a pink pirate flag – this is so that you can spot them easily. They will welcome you and tell you a bit about the swim location and what you can expect. A sociable swim, paddle or toe dip will then be enjoyed by all, followed by a litter pick.
Our swims are inclusive and friendly with a focus on peer support, so do come along, we’d love to see you at a swim soon!
Frequently Asked Questions
The weather is really wild outside, will the swim be cancelled?
Part of our swim hosts training will cover how to do a risk assessment but also trust your gut. As our disclaimer says ‘ you are responsible for your safety at all times’ Check the weather forecast and the tide times before each meet. If it seems too rough join us for a walk and a litter pick instead. Heavy rain can also mean an increase in sewage in the water.
Check out – www.sas.org.uk/safer-seas-service or https://www.weswimwild.com
You can also contact the RNLI – https://rnli.org/about-us/contact-us/make-an-enquiry
What does peer support mean?
Peer support is when people use their own experiences to help each other. There are different types of peer support, but they all aim to:
- bring together people with shared experiences to support each other
- provide a space where you feel accepted and understood
- treat everyone’s experiences as being equally important
- involve both giving and receiving support.
In peer support everyone’s views and experiences are equally valued, rather than anyone being seen as more of an expert than others. How much support you give and receive can vary depending on what feels right for you at different times.1
The aim of Mental Health Swims is to provide a welcoming environment for peer support. We all have first hand experience of mental health challenges in our team. You will find empathy and kindness with us. This is a great place to meet new friends who will understand if you’re going through rough times. If you’re looking for a good gateway into the experience of cold water swimming with great chat and kind people come along. If you find out you really enjoy it and want to learn more we can point you in the direction of some fabulous swim coaches.
1 - taken from the mind.org.uk website
What do donations pay for?
They will pay for:
- Running costs – the website, email and back office systems, volunteer expenses, insurance
- Paying 3 part time members of staff. The Board of Directors are not paid.
- Equipment e.g tow floats
- Mental Health Awareness for volunteers
- Creating training films and programs
- Sometimes Lifeguards
Are These Sessions Coached?
All our swims are peer support meet ups. That means that everyone (including the swim hosts) are benefiting from spending time with like-minded people. This is a space where you can come and feel however you’re feeling and know that you will be made to feel welcome.
Everybody who joins agrees to our waiver on the event sign up. This means you join in the understanding that you are responsible for your own safety.
In this role swim hosts are there to welcome people to the meet up. Even if they are swim coaches or therapists in their professional lives that is not their role at Mental Health Swims.
I would love to volunteer for Mental Health Swims, how do I get involved?
That’s wonderful, thank you so much!
Mental Health Swims is a community that welcomes and empowers everyone – people of all body shapes, skin colours, ages, backgrounds, genders, sexualities and abilities to enjoy the healing power of cold water and community. There will be a wide range of people living with mental challenges attending our swim meet ups so it is of the utmost importance that Swim hosts must be :
Respectful – both in person and online
Inclusive – tolerant, welcoming, and aware of the diversity in people and their perspectives, both online and in person.
Safe – follow guidelines and policies and request support quickly when needed
If you’d like to be a swim host you can find more details here
If you’re interested in joining our core team or board of directors we will advertise any positions on our social media and blog so keep an eye out on our feed.
Can I bring my dog along?
Whilst we discourage bringing a dog along to a Mental Health Swims meet up, we do recognise some people require a Service Support Dog to be able to take part. If you do need a Service Support Dog, they must be well behaved, trained and kept on the lead at all times. Please let the host know in advance if you are bringing a Service Support Dog so they can let other participants know in advance.
Can children attend?
It can be difficult for adults to have honest and open conversations about their mental health if children are present. These conversations are also quite likely to be inappropriate for youngsters.
Do I need prior experience to attend a swim meet up
Our meet ups are for everyone. If you don’t swim you can join us for a chat and litter pick. Know your limits don’t push yourself and make sure you’re staying safe at all times. If this mean sitting down in a foot of water to feel the cold, then that’s fine by us. These meet ups are for having fun. Getting the mental health benefits of cold water and spending time outdoors with lovely people. We would prefer you don’t go into the water deeper than your waist and we all look out for each other.
Are your swim hosts specially trained?
Our swim hosts have all been trained in:
- Basic cold water safety
- Mental health awareness in sport
- How to be a swim host
- Risk assessment
You say you’re welcoming and inclusive but your team and swim hosts are almost entirely white, why is that?
Thank you for spotting this and for calling it out. We are painfully aware of the lack of diversity in our team and community. We are really hoping post lockdown with the introduction of social prescribing, being able to visit community centres and local mental health charities, that we will have a much wider network of people attending our swims and joining our team.
If you’re an outdoor swimmer from a marginalised group feeling nervous about joining a meet up please get in touch.
See also:
- Blog Post – Swim4Akhirah
- Black Swimmers Association
- Swim Dem Crew
- Swimming Without Barriers
- Soul Swimmers
- Queer Swim Margate
- Freestyle Friday London
If you know of any other swimming communities representing marginalised groups please let us know on hello@mentalhealthswims.co.uk
You say you are inclusive, does that mean you welcome disabled people?
We want to welcome everyone and that means we sometimes need a bit more planning. We try our best to choose places where there’s parking and there aren’t lots of steps or long bumpy paths etc. However these places can have other issues especially during the summer, as they can be busy. If you have accessibility concerns please contact us before booking.
We can discuss your individual needs at the location you’re interested in attending. We train our hosts in cold-water safety, mental health awareness and risk assessment but they are not trained in manual handling. We hope that in the future there will be better access to outdoor swim spots. If you’re a disability organisation who would like to collaborate with us so that we can be more accessible please get in touch. We have lots of enthusiasm but have limited funds.
Companions, Carers and Link Workers
I have a complaint or safeguarding concern who should I contact?
I’m so sorry to hear that. Please contact our founder Rachel Ashe or safeguarding@mentalhealthswims.co.uk
We have a media opportunity for you, who should we contact?
That’s brilliant, thank you for thinking of us. Please send media requests to media@mentalhealthswims.co.uk