Crisis Icebreaker

While the challenge is to swim a certain distance (one width in case of the lidos), there is no obligation to swim that distance if you can’t manage it. 

We can’t tell the temperature of the water now, as they are all unheated bodies of water and will depend on the weather. Typically temperatures range between 6 and 9 degrees, but as temperatures drop over January, and especially in Scotland, this could be colder. 

We advise preparing for your swim by taking cold showers in the lead up.

Brockwell Lido and Parliament Hill Lido: The width of the pool is 90 feet/27.4 meters. 

Lido Ponty: The National Lido of Wales is 25m long x 10m wide.

Jupiter Artland: This unique, round pool is 9 meters in diameter (and is made up of hand-painted Portuguese tiles!)

Bicester Open Water Swimming Lake: The lake is a 200m body of water.

Yes, please read our cold water swim tips and safety advice before attempting any cold water swimming / challenge.

All participants at Brockwell, Parliament Hill, Ponty, Bicester and Jupiter Artland must be aged 18 or over.

If you are doing a DIY challenge and are under 18, you must be under the supervision of an adult. 

You need to be able to be responsible for your own safety when taking part in an Icebreaker challenge.

Please do not attempt this challenge in open water if you are not a confident swimmer. If you take part in a pre-booked slot at a lido or one of our in-person events, please let the lifeguard know and make sure you enter the pool at the shallow end. Do not try entering the pool without a lifeguard present, and without making them aware.

Our Crisis Icebreaker in-person event will have lifeguards and first aiders present, but you cannot rely on them entirely for your safety. If you do not feel confident enough in your ability, why not try a challenge which would not require swimming, like an icy bath or shower at home.

Please email swim@crisis.org.uk to let us know. Your registration fee for both the DIY challenge and our in-person Icebreaker events are non-refundable.

The DIY event will run until 31 January but if you wish to complete your challenge later on, you may!

Each member of the relay team for our London events will need to register individually and pay their own entry fee. 

You can wear whatever you feel comfortable in as long as it is lightweight, so this could be a swimsuit or fancy dress.

Please make sure that you don't wear anything that will become too heavy or restrictive to swim in when it gets wet.

Bring a towel, warm clothes to change into when you have finished, including thick socks, a warm hat, gloves and a scarf.

Please wear a swim cap during your challenge to retain body heat.

For DIY challenge participants, if you do not have access to food and drink you might want to bring a flask of hot tea/coffee and something to eat with you.

If you're taking part in an event (not DIY), please bring a swim cap with you. Crisis will have a number of swim caps available on the day but these are limited. 

You can choose to receive a free swim cap if you are doing the DIY challenge.

JustGiving will automatically transfer the money you raise to us. 

If you have fundraised 'offline' (collected cash or bank transfers) you can pay it in via BACS. Please email us at swim@crisis.org.uk if you wish to do this, so we can provide details and a reference number. You can also add the money raised offline to your JustGiving page total - find out more here. 

It is Crisis policy not to accept cash so if you have collected in this way, please pay it into a bank account and transfer online, as above. 

Thank you. 

We love to see photos of your Icebreakers, so please share them!

You can add them on Instagram or Twitter using #CrisisIcebreaker, or by emailing them to swim@crisis.org.uk

We're happy to help with all aspect of fundraising! If you would like to order materials, or download digital resources, you can do so here.

Yes, all of our events will have toilets and showers available to participants.

At our in-person Icebreaker events you may bring people along with you, please email us if you would like more than a handful of people to join you so we can check with the Lido’s capacity.

Don’t forget to share what you are doing with your friends and family in case they might want to join in too!

Brockwell Lido has accessible parking and changing facilities.

Bicester Hotel and Spa has 7 accessible parking bays outside the performance centre entrance. Accessible changing rooms and toilets are available.

Parliament Hill Lido has ramps into the building with level access throughout. There are accessible toilets, an accessible shower, and some larger cubicles in the changing rooms. There is also a hoist into the water if required.

Ponty Lido has disabled access to the pool and changing rooms.

Our DIY challenge is a great option as there are a number of ways to feel the freeze such as having an icy cold shower, dipping feet into a bucket of ice or finding a safe place where you can safely access the water.

Please reach out to us at swim@crisis.org.uk if you require extra support to take part in the Crisis Icebreaker.