This year's #Coldtober raised €129,000 for Helplink, a non-profit that provides accessible, free or low cost mental health services locally, nationally and internationally, 7 days a week and out–of–hours!
#Coldtober was a national sea swimming fundraising challenge for the month of October, where each day a staggering 490 participants across Ireland (including one in Australia!) took part by jumping in for a sea swim in their local area in support of Helplink's 2021 mission; for children, young people and adults to achieve and maintain positive mental health.
L to R; Lisa Mongan, Ground & Co Manager, Sam O’ Neill, Board Secretary & Marketing Director, Ruth Mc Court, Fundraising & Marketing Manager, Lochlann Scott, CEO, Helplink Mental Health.
The organisers would like to say a huge THANK YOU to each of the 490 participants who set up a fundraising page and shared their #Coldtober sea swim selfies across their social media. They would also like to thank their main sponsors; Portwest and Solaris Tea. The campaign has raised vital funds and awareness for this mental health services that are needed now more than ever.
Coldtober hoped to build on last year’s successful sea-swimming fundraising challenge organised by students from NUI Galway, who completed a daily swim in at Galway's Blackrock Diving Tower each day of November and raised €15,000. For 2021, the organisers decided to go national with ‘Coldtober’ so people all across Ireland could take part. They are blown away by the total amount raised which is a staggering €129,000! Helplink have also employed 4 new counsellors to keep up with the increased demand for their services since they began promoting Coldtober.
Along with the overall running of the organisation, the money raised will also go towards:
- Enhancing the mental health e-learning platform that houses their information & education services (mindhacks.ie)
- Supporting their free and low cost mental health services for children, young people and adults which run 7 days a week and out–of–hours, nationally and locally
- Help to possibly open a third office location, this time in Athlone, to help people in Co. Roscommon and the Midlands.
L to R; Lochlann Scott, CEO, Helplink Mental Health, Ruth Mc Court, Fundraising & Marketing Manager, Imara Diaz Manager at The Creamery Cafe, Sam O’ Neill, Board Secretary & Marketing Director, Ronan Galvin, Owner at The Creamery Cafe.
Founder & CEO of Helplink Mental Health Lochlann Scott says; "When we launched Coldtober this year we were hoping for around 100 people to take up the challenge. Never in our wildest dreams did we expect nearly 500 people from across 21 counties to take up the challenge! People’s generosity is just amazing and because of that generosity we are in an even better position to continue to enhance and expand the mental health services we offer to children, young people and adults 7 days a week."
Coldtober 2021 Brand Ambassador Irish surfer and mental health advocate Dr. Easkey Britton says; "Coldtober brought together two of the things I’m most passionate about — a love of the sea and cold water, and supporting our well-being and mental health. It was incredible to see such a huge response from all over the country with people taking to the cold water in support of Helplink Mental Health’s vital services, while also deepening their connection with the sea."
"Coldtober created a more positive approach to how we experience, understand and promote our mental health. People discovered how the sea and cold water immersion can also help our mental health in so many ways. The multi-sensory nature of water stimulates all our senses bringing us back into our bodies instead of feeling stuck in our heads. That’s one of the reasons why it feels so freeing and energising, helping to reduce stress and anxiety."
L to R; Lochlann Scott, CEO, Helplink Mental Health, Ruth Mc Court, Fundraising & Marketing Manager, Sam O’ Neill, Board Secretary & Marketing Director
Follow the Helplink journey by following their social media pages @HelplinkMentalHealth or Twitter @HelplinkMH . As they complete their 2021 mission they will provide updates across all of these channels of how the donations will be spent across 2021 & 2022! Also, stay tuned for #Coldtober2022!
PHOTO CREDIT: Brad Anderson/Photo One www.photoone.ie
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