Whitburn woman bringing North East Skinny Dip back for 2022 - here's how to enter

The North East Skinny Dip 2022 takes place at Northumberland’s Druridge Bay on Sunday, September 25 to raise money for Mind.

It will be an early rise for the dippers, with plodging set to begin shortly before 7am when the sun rises.

North East Skinny Dip is an annual event and this year’s plunge marks its 10th anniversary. To join requires a ticket, available online.

People are invited to make a pledge of £15 to take part. All proceeds go directly to Tyneside and Northumberland Mind to improve local mental health services and local mental health.

More than a thousand pledges have been made so far. Since the first skinny dip in 2012, more than £80,000 has been raised.

In 2021 a record 830 skinny dippers plunged into the North Sea and organiser and founder Jax Higginson, from Whitburn, says she expects reach a target for the decade of £100,000.

Anyone who might feel a little self-conscious might like to consider that hundreds of other people will be there doing exactly the same thing.

Jax said: “North East Skinny Dip is a celebration of life, of nature and of our own, unique, physical bodies. It’s about taking a risk and embracing a moment of pure joy and freedom.

“It also provides a rare opportunity to step into our vulnerability, confront shame and smash the beauty myth.

“NESD is not just a skinny dip; it’s an experience. There is no better way to welcome the winter than stripping down to skin at sunrise and running wild and free into the North Sea with hundreds of other people.”

There will be dedicated water safety cover on hand between 6.30am and 7.30am. There is no obligation to be naked at NESD, but it is encouraged.

North East Skinny Dip is a ticketed event and the location is Red Row, Druridge Bay. To make a pledge and sign up for it, go to www.northeastskinnydip.co.uk. To donate, visit the NESD’s JustGiving page.