Now, you see running into the North Sea at 10 o’clock in the morning with a bunch of people you only met a few weeks ago may not seem like everyone’s cup of tea but I was certainly up for it. Having never done a fundraising idea like this before, I immediately thought of the plan as a fun and enthralling event which would not only challenge me physically but mentally too.
When the suggestion was first brought to the table back in week three, I was a tad anxious about the idea of stepping out of my little comfort zone and trying something different. But, after much thought and a lot of worrying about what could go wrong, I finally grew to the idea.
The day of the Sea Dip finally came around like a grey cloud on a gloomy day, and a mixed feeling of excitement and nervousness was brewing about me and the rest of our lot, whilst preparing to take our plunge into the cold depths of the murky water. However, it was time, we had to it. The sponsor money was in and the charity (RNLI) was implanted into all our minds. We couldn’t back out now, not after coming so far.
We did it! We finally made it into the sea. The freezing temperatures of the water didn’t change our moods. Still in high spirits, we splashed around, dunking our shoulders into the water and giggling as Morgan chased a screaming, wet Ellie with seaweed. She was terrified. After soaking each other, Melissa challenged us to swim back to shore. Overall, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something amazing for a brilliant charity.
After taking the dive, a sense of achievement, pride and relief hit me all at once, as I realised it wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. A chaotic rumble distilled around the beach as fellow teammates and friends quickly ran to parents and relatives for hot drinks and soft towels to warm them up. The atmosphere around was surreal as, the sound of ‘congratulations’ and ‘I can’t believe you did that’ milled about the seafront and lifeboat station.
In the end, it was such a fantastic, exhilarating and exciting end to an amazing four weeks and I wouldn’t have chosen to have anyone else by my side other than all of the inspirational team leaders, assistants and people of Wave 2!! Thank you for this remarkable opportunity and I would recommend to anyone looking for an action-packed, entertaining start to their summer holidays.