London lidos to host Crisis fundraising events for homelessness

Londoners are being urged to take an icy plunge at one of Crisis’ charity fundraisers this winter, in order to raise money for people experiencing homelessness across the UK.

The Crisis Icebreaker Challenges, which will take place at three London lidos, starting at Brockwell Lido on 14 December at 11am, will see fancy dress-clad swimmers take on the challenge solo, either by jumping into the freezing water, swimming one width or taking part in a relay race.

The other two Crisis Icebreaker Challenges will take place in the New Year, one at Tooting Bec Lido on 18 January and another at Parliament Hill Lido on 25 January.

The cost to register for the events is £28.87, which is equal to the cost of reserving a place for a homeless person at one of Crisis’ Christmas centres.

Swimmers are also encouraged to get their friends and family involved by sponsoring their involvement, as the money raised will go towards Crisis’ year-round services which help people to leave homelessness behind for good.

The Crisis charity offers employment, housing and well-being services from its centres, as well as campaigning for the social changes needed to solve homelessness altogether.

The announcement of this year’s annual charity fundraisers comes after the Office for National Statistics revealed that there were 726 deaths of homeless people registered in England and Wales in 2018. The highest year-to-year increase (22%) since their records began.

The Salvation Army has also recently warned that hundreds of homeless people are likely to die over the winter months, as people fall into what it calls “the rough sleeping trap”.

Follow this link to find out more about Crisis’ Icebreaker Challenges: https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/fundraise/crisis-icebreaker/