Sea swimmers’ 12 Bays of Christmas raises £19,000
Sea swimmers braving the Christmas chill have raised £19,000 for Les Bourgs Hospice.
The annual 12 Bays of Christmas challenge encourages islanders to take a dip in 12 festively-themed named bays during December.
‘We know that Christmas is a busy time of year and brings more challenging sea swimming conditions so we are grateful to everyone who took part or sponsored someone,’ said hospice fundraising administrator Liz Stonebridge.
‘My favourite part was the launch at the Bathing Pools where there was a real buzz of excitement. It is always a bonus to know that people are having fun while raising money for such an important local charity.’
Family groups, friends, work teams, including from Robus, Investec, HFL and the Red Carnation Group, and a team from the Guernsey Raiders Ladies got involved.
The second-youngest swimmer was seven-year-old Riva-Mae Brouard, who also raised the second-highest amount of sponsorship of £1,240.
Hitting the milestone amount of more than £1,000 meant that less enthusiastic swimmers in her family had to join her for some of the swims.
Peter Smith proved his continued dedication in supporting sea swimming challenges for the hospice, raising a combined total of £3,663 for the summer and winter events, going the extra mile by adding hikes or runs to his swims.
The winner of the 12 Bays photo competition went to the Mental Tentacles for the third year in a row, with Santa making a splash at its pool party.
Second place was a human Christmas tree by the Chemical Seasters, and third place a cheeky selfie with the Christmas tree at the Bathing Pools by Marina Burr.
