One of Northern Ireland’s leading mental health charities is calling on local businesses to join in their annual sea splash event this December to help raise vital funds for their mental health services.

Action Mental Health’s ‘Festive Splash’ will take place at Crawfordsburn Beach, Co Down on Sunday, December 1 from 10.30am until approximately 12.30pm. The event, now in its third year, encourages people to brave the water for a quick dip and is a great opportunity to support a good cause while also enjoying a morning out with your team.

Action Mental Health’s Head of Communications and Fundraising, Jonathan Smyth, said: “Our annual Festive Splash event is a great opportunity to get together with friends, family or colleagues and have some fun for a good cause. All money raised will go directly to funding our various mental health services across Northern Ireland.

“This year, in light of our new “I AM SOMEONE” campaign, we’re asking participants to ‘Make a splash for someone’ – because behind every mental health statistic is a real person and that ‘someone’ is who our services will support.”

Registration for the Festive Splash event opens at 10.30am, with a pre-water warm-up at 10.45am in the form of some dance from Gill Drummond Zumba. The dip itself will then take place at 11.05am, following a safety briefing, with participants able to enjoy some music from the Bangor Ukes between 11am-11.30am. A team from the Clandeboye Lodge will then be on hand with free tea, coffee and sweet treats to help warm everyone up after the dip.

The Festive Splash is open to anyone over the age of 18 and, in a change from previous years, children aged 12 years and over are now also welcome to take part, with adults able to purchase a ticket for them when registering online. As an extra incentive for all hardy dippers, those who fundraise a minimum of £50 will receive a free purple Action Mental Health beanie.

If you’ve ever thought about doing a cold water dip then this is the perfect opportunity to try it out in a safe environment, as Action Mental Health will have plenty of professional backup on the day. This includes boat support from Safer Waters, along with lifeguards from outdoor activity provider, Active Adventures NI, while there will also be first aid support on hand from Proparamedics. So, why not give it a go and make a splash for someone this Christmas…

To sign up for Action Mental Health’s Festive Splash event on Sunday, December 1 and help raise vital funds for mental health services in Northern Ireland, please sign up here: https://register.enthuse.com/ps/event/ActionMentalHealthsFestiveSplash