Crisis Icebreaker

Your safety is your responsibility so please choose a safe and accessible location to take part. We have collated cold water swim tips and safety advice for you to read before attempting any cold water swimming/ challenge.

All participants at Brockwell, Parliament Hill, Tooting Bec and Bicester 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 our in-person Icebreaker events are non-refundable.

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.

Wear your Crisis swim hat or warm hat to help your body retain heat and bring a towel, warm clothes to change into when you have finished, including thick socks, a warm hat, gloves and a scarf.

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.

All participants at the Lido events can pick up their swim cap on the day.

If you're taking part in the Icebreaker Challenge, you can opt to receive a Crisis swim hat once you have started fundraising and raised £20. We'll send you an email or contact us at swim@crisis.org.uk to claim yours!

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 unique 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. 

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

You can share them on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using #CrisisIcebreaker, or by email 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, an onsite café will be available at both our Brockwell and Parliament Hill events, and refreshments will be available at the Lido Ponty and Bicester events.

Yes, all of our events will have toilets and hot 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.

Tooting Lido has level access and handrails into the shallow end.

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 or would like specific information about access at Icebreaker venues.