Talking about how you really feel can sometimes cause you to freeze and can also take your breath away. It’s a courageous thing to do so Conwy Mind introduced a challenge that replicates the emotions of someone struggling to talk about how they feel. It made people freeze and certainly took their breath away – it was the Seal Splash!

On Sunday 4^th February 71 participants took on a cold-water sea dip on Colwyn Bay beach all to raise vital funds for better mental health. Thanks to the generous sponsors Tom Owen and Son Funeral Directors all the money raised went direct to Conwy Mind to support our free services that help so many people struggling with their mental health in our local community.

 

From 11:30am once registration opened our participants started turning up, some sporting some incredible fancy dress outfits! All wanting to get their hands on the best dressed fancy dress prize – a £30 Smashed Burger voucher and Seal Splash beanie hat.

High winds didn’t dampen people’s spirits and even if people didn’t fancy a dip, they turned up to cheer everyone on! Passers by and supporters made generous donations and bought tickets for our raffle. We had some wonderful prizes kindly donated from local businesses; a 2 night glamping break from Tan Y Bryn Glamping gel polish and brow shape and tint from Tasha Mackenzie Beauty and 18 rounds of golf for four people at Old Colwyn Golf Club.

 

At 1pm we all did a 10 second countdown and headed for the sea! Despite how cold it was everyone was smiling and full of laughter! 

 

We’d like to say a big thank you to the volunteer lifeguards from Colwyn Bay Surf Lifesaving Club who ensured all our seal splashers were safe.

After 10 minutes or so, everyone was out of the sea safely and drying themselves off! It was then time to warm themselves up with a 50% discounted hot drink from Parisella’s Ice Cream. 

We would like to say a HUGE thanks to everyone involved in Seal Splash for making it such a huge success. We were blown away by the generosity with peoples fundraisers, the donations and raffle sales! And in total Seal Splash raised just over £7,000 for Conwy Mind!!

It is hoped to become one of Conwy Mind’s annual fundraisers so watch this space for Seal Splash 2025!