December Dips delight at Kilmore Quay

By Dan Walsh

Kilmore Quay RNLI Volunteers were delighted this week to meet those who took part in 20 Dips in December raising a record €7535.25 this year for their local lifeboat station.

Now in its fourth year and organised by local ladies Gráinne O’Brien, Melinda Kehoe and Simmi Duffin, the fundraising event challenges participants to take 20 dips in the sea during the month of December culminating in a community swim in Kilmore Quay on New Year’s Eve.

Forty-five people of all ages completed the full challenge at various locations throughout the month of December as conditions allowed. Safety always to the fore, this year the final swim was postponed a day due to inclement weather on December 31^st.

However, that did not deter the swimmers who instead showed up in numbers the next day and completed their ‘20 Dips’ on a sunny winter’s afternoon on January 1^st.

Gráinne O’Brien, 20 Dips in December Organiser, said ‘We have had phenomenal support for this event from so many people, whether it was help organising swims, donating raffle prizes, donations of refreshments, whatever we needed, somebody stepped up to help.

“We particularly want to thank our sponsors Sofrimar who sponsored our swim caps this year. We are extremely grateful to all who donated to the event or sponsored us and especially to those who took part throughout the month. We are thrilled to be able to handover this fantastic amount to such a great cause. Makes all those cold dips worthwhile!” concluded Ms. O’Brien.

John Grace, Kilmore Quay RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager who welcomed the participants to the station on Monday, said; “We are delighted to welcome you all here today especially so many young people. This is a fantastic community event and now a regular fixture on the annual calendar. “Fundraising is so important to what we do and without people like yourselves, our lifeboat service could not continue as we do. On behalf of all the volunteers at Kilmore Quay Lifeboat station, thank you all for your fantastic efforts on our behalf,” added Mr Grace.