Students brave the cold of the Atlantic Ocean for this year’s Coldvember fundraiser
By Michelle Byrnes
It’s that time of year again to take the plunge at Blackrock Diving Tower, Salthill, in aid of the Coldvember fundraiser. After a postponed start to the month due to the weather warning of winds and high tides, this morning, 2 November, marked the first official day of Coldvember. For a month straight, students of Galway will have a dip in the Atlantic Ocean at sunrise in aid of this year’s chosen charity, Galway Rape Crisis Centre.
What started in 2018 in an effort to raise funds for mental health charity, Coldvember has become an annual event that allows students to get proactively involved in fundraising. Last year organisers raised funds for the Galway Rape Crisis Centre and this year the team have chosen to support the charity for another year running, with a 20,000 euro target on their iDonate.ie page. Coldvember raises funds through donations on their social media, through the sale of merch, and other fundraising events such as raffles and quizzes.
How it all comes together
Speaking to Galway Pulse, Helena Canny, one of this year’s Coldvember organisers explains how she got involved with the committee.
As a frequent sea swimmer, Helena was interested in joining the crew and spoke to the previous year’s organisers, telling them to keep her in mind for the 2023 event. Helena then got five other swimming enthusiasts involved and their crew took off from there.
“I’m really delighted that I got the opportunity to be on the committee.
“Even if I wasn’t on the committee, I’d still be attending the swims, so it was a win-win for me regardless.”
When asked how they were chosen by the committee to be this year’s group to take over the fundraiser she said;
“We were on to them at the end of the semester last year.
“They told us there were a few other groups interested so they brought us for a swim and kind of just had a chat and said they’d get back to us by the end of the week.”
When Helena and the crew were confirmed as the chosen organisers for this year’s Coldvember, it was full steam ahead from there. Having weekly meetings they began to brainstorm ideas and started planning events. From themed mornings to quiz nights, the gang put together an outline for the month.
“September was all ideas and brainstorming, then it was October when we were thinking of raffles and quizzes and how we better get on to local companies.
“We’ve gotten great support from local businesses for prizes and raffles.”
Galway Rape Crisis Centre
Galway Rape Crisis Centre (GRCC) has also been the chosen charity for Coldvember for the previous two years. Helena explains why the charity is important to continuously support, especially for students.
“It’s great for awareness for students, as it may be a difficult conversation to have.
“Someone might not have a close friend that they feel comfortable talking to, you don’t ever know someone’s circumstances”
Founded in 1984 GRCC is a Galway-based charity that offers counselling and helplines for people who have been affected by sexual abuse or trauma. They also strive towards the end of tolerance for sexual violence and offer training and educational programmes.
Getting everyone involved
Although Coldvember is run by University of Galway students, they are eager to convince everyone to venture down to Blackrock for a dip. Helena explains they sent emails to many colleges in Galway, and locals are always welcome to join in and support the charity.
“Even for locals or their uncle, auntie, their cousin or a neighbour, the more the merrier.”
As well as this, Helena says every little helps, and the crew would be delighted to see people come to the Diving Tower whenever they have a chance to make it.
“Even if it’s two mornings out of the month, come as often as you like, any participation at all is great.”
The benefits of a cold dip
Not only will the Coldvember dip aid the GRCC with donations, but it’s also a great way to become a part of a community. Helena explains that the sea swim is also proven to have many benefits and is a great way to start the day.
“There’s definitely a rush of dopamine.
“You can talk yourself out of it, everything is telling you not to go in but there’s no complaints coming out of the water.
“Coming up to exam season, it definitely eases the stress. That’s why me and the others were so keen on it last year.”
You can donate to Coldvember by their visiting their iDonate page or following their Instagram to follow some of the events and merch drops that will be happening throughout the month.
