It’s no secret that cold water swimming has a huge number of health benefits. Many people in the UK have been using it as a means to regulate physical and emotional health for some time, which begs the question – why isn’t it offered on the NHS as an alternative to prescription medication and therapy?

Mental Health Swims was founded by Rachel Ashe in 2019, after she discovered that cold water and community had a huge positive impact on her mental health. Now, Rachel wants everyone to be able to access these benefits. With the support of volunteers, Mental Health Swims holds monthly swimming meet ups around the country so that others can feel supported and welcomed in their own cold water swimming journey.

Quite often the things we fear the most are the things we need to address the most. Whilst it can be overwhelming to even consider tackling these areas of our lives, wild swimming provides us with the opportunity to develop the skills we need to be able to do so, before we’re ready to face them head on.