August in the swim community

NOWCA’s new app connects swimmers with groups, and Mental Health Swims creating welcoming spaces for people with mental health challenges. Stay up to date with our outdoor swimming community news for August 2024.

NOWCA: Connecting swimmers with groups

Joining a swim group and swimming together in open water is a great way to stay safe, meet new friends, and solve the world’s problems (well try to anyway!) As open water swimming has grown in popularity in recent years, so too has the number of swim groups. There are now swim groups that cater to all interests and abilities, but finding the right group can sometimes be a challenge.

Let us introduce the NOWCA Wild app which uses geolocation to find and list swim groups nearest to you. With over 40 groups already set up and more joining every day, there’s a community out there waiting for you. Swim groups can easily share upcoming meet-ups, post updates, and engage with followers who can ask questions and join the conversation.

If you’re part of a swim group, make sure to get set up on the NOWCA Wild app. It’s the perfect way for swimmers to find and connect with you! Designed to support wild swimmers, NOWCA Wild offers a range of features to help you explore new locations, connect with fellow enthusiasts, and stay safe in open water.

NOWCA Wild is free to download for iOS and Android. nowcawild.co.uk

Mental Health Swims: Creating welcoming spaces for people with mental health challenges

Living with mental illness or mental health challenges is hard. People often want to help but don’t know how. It’s hard to get it right and on top of that, not everyone is comfortable disclosing details to those closest to them – and most often, people don’t want to be a burden.

This is where mental health peer support can shine. ‘Peer support is when people use their own experiences to help each other’ (Mind). That sharing of experiences, the reassurance that you’re not alone, the shared tips of what has helped one person that might help another, even the solidarity when you want to stay silent but knowing that you are part of a community and that you are accepted as you are. It’s such a simple concept and once ground rules are in place, it means we can support each other in a safe and non-judgemental way.

At Mental Health Swims we want mental health issues to be discussed more openly and for empathy and understanding around mental health and mental illness to grow within all communities, so that people don’t feel like they are alone or excluded. All around the UK we have recruited some truly wonderful volunteers, all of whom have lived experience of mental health challenges or mental illness – either because of their own personal experience or someone very close to them. Our swim hosts are trained in mental health awareness and swim meets are based on a peer support model where people can show up as they are, share as little or as much as they like all whilst enjoying a shared love of the water.

Find out more and say hello – mentalhealthswims.co.uk