Registrations open for Coldtober 2022, the 31-day sea swimming fundraiser
In 2021, a month-long sea swimming fundraiser challenge for Helplink mental health services called Coldtober went national, meaning all of Ireland could take part.
More than 20 different locations around Ireland saw participants take part by going for a swim every day for this 31-day challenge in their local sea swimming area.
In total, 490 participants from 21 counties across Ireland took part in Coldtober 2021.
Registrations are now open for Coldtober 2022. You are invited to join in this October month-long sea swimming fundraiser challenge to help Helplink get one step closer to meeting its mission – to support children, young people and adults with their mental health.
The first 500 participants to register for the challenge will receive a Coldtober Portwest beanie from sponsor Portwest Ireland, plus the delicious, unique Solaris Tea to warm you up after your sea swim.
Anyone who would like to take part but isn’t near a sea swimming spot can simply have a 30-second cold shower each day!
Register here to get involved. See here for terms and conditions.
Ruth McCourt, marketing and fundraising manager at Helplink Mental Health, said: “We are thrilled to be launching Coldtober for a second year in a row. Coldtober 2021 was a huge success and totally exceeded our expectations – we saw 490 participants register for the sea swimming fundraiser from 21 counties across Ireland, and the funding from this fundraiser helped Helpink’s counselling services to expand immensely.
“During 2021, in our Galway location, we provided just over 1,200 counselling appointments to children, young people and adults. In the first six months of 2022 we did the same amount of appointments as we did in the whole year of 2021 – a 100% growth in demand.
“We have also hired 16 new counsellors to keep up with demand for online and offline appointments, and have hired a full-time services delivery manager to monitor and streamline all of our counselling services and provide support to our counsellors.”
Ruth added: “I’m delighted to be managing and executing the Coldtober 2022 campaign. I am so passionate about mental health services and hope with the continued expansion of Helplink we will continue to support and make a difference in people's lives. I’m a sea swimmer myself so I will be taking part again this year at Blackrock. Also a huge thank you to our sponsor Portwest Ireland who have come on board again this year.”
In their 10 years of service, Helplink has provided over 18,000 counselling appointments for children, young people and adults. Last year alone they provided over 6,000 appointments, illustrating the large national trend of increased mental health support seeking from the public.
Helplink also provides mental health information and education services, and in 2020 they released their national e-learning platform called Mind Hacks (mindhacks.ie). On Mind Hacks the public have free access 24/7 to unique mental health video and podcast libraries, and the platform also provides student mental health workshops, also available 24/7 over a continuous period.