Chill Dorset

30/07/2025

🌙 NEW EVENING COURSE!

Starting in September, we'll be offering our first-ever evening course at Branksome Chine. Spaces are limited, so if you want to explore cold-water dipping and its health benefits, please get in touch asap.

Our Chill Dorset courses all include:

🌊 Experienced trainers to introduce you to cold-water dipping
🌊 Lifeguard at each session to keep you safe
🌊 Sea safety advice, including tides, rip tides and weather conditions
🌊 The benefits of cold water and the impact on the body
🌊 Breathing techniques
🌊 Advice on essential kit and accessories for swimming
🌊 Support and guidance to help you overcome your personal barriers
🌊 A friendly community of like-minded people

Starting on Tuesday 2nd September at 6pm and running for 8 weeks, we're really pleased to have funding that enables us to offer these courses for FREE to those who have been impacted by cancer (whether that's a diagnosis yourself or a close loved one), as well as those who are looking to boost their wellness, increase self-esteem or reduce stress.

Find out more: https://chilluk.org/hubs/england/dorset/chill-dorset/
Contact us: enquiries.chilldorset@chilluk.org

11/07/2025

Last week we had our Beach Pilates & Sea Dip fundraising event with Bridge Health & Wellbeing and raised more than our target of £750 for Chill Dorset!

The event consisted of a Beach Pilates session, followed by a supported sea dip, at Avon Beach in Christchurch.

We're really grateful to Bridge Health & Wellbeing for the event, and to everyone who came along to support our work and fundraising. These essential funds will help us offer our cold water courses to more people who need it.

The fundraising page is still open if anyone wants to donate: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jocox-chilldorset

Thank you for all your support 🩵

10/07/2025

Next up in our latest meet the team posts is Helen, one of our lovely volunteers, helping us support our course participants.

Helen Packard – Chill Dorset Volunteer

Meet her at:
Avon Beach

Get to know Helen:
“I have been cold-water dipping now for several years after completing the Chill course. I benefit from both the cold water and the amazing community that has evolved from others who are like-minded and delight in Chilly Dipping throughout the year. Following cancer treatment and surgery, both my physical and mental wellbeing had taken a battering. I find the cold water acts as a 'reset button' and it is the only place my mind can switch off. For me, cold water releases pain, tension and helps reduce inflammation. I never used to be a fan of the cold (my hands and feet are always freezing), but now there is nothing I enjoy more than dipping in the sea and catching up with the Chill family. I wanted to volunteer so that others can safely experience the healing powers of the sea and the camaraderie/support that Chill provides.”

Top tip for new dippers:
“Water shoes – the beach/seabed can be stoney and it’s so much easier getting in and out with water shoes on.”

See the Pinned Post for upcoming course dates, starting in September 2025.

07/07/2025

Our team is growing! We’d like to introduce you to more of the Chill Dorset volunteers who you will meet on our courses in autumn.

Linda Clark – Chill Dorset Volunteer

Meet her at:
Avon Beach

Get to know Linda:
“I started swimming with Chill in 2022 after my first winter swimming with other local friends. The regular Chilly Dipper [post-course community group] swims posted in advance mean you can choose the one or two that fit best with your week. Cold-water dipping fits really well with my other activities, helping my muscles, bones and mood to be at their best; it’s addictive and gratifying.”

Top tip for new dippers:
“Ask any questions that come to mind at the course sessions or on the group What’s App, and remember to take a few deep breaths before trying anything challenging.”

See the Pinned Post for upcoming course dates, starting in September 2025.

05/07/2025

🌊 AUTUMN COURSES – SEPTEMBER 2025 – ENQUIRE NOW 🌊

As we take our summer break from delivering cold-water courses while the sea is a little warmer, we're planning ahead for our next batch coming this September. We already have quite a few people signed up for these, so if you've been thinking about joining us, get in touch to secure your spot.

Join us for an 8-week Chill course at one of three Dorset venues: Lodmoor Beach, Weymouth (Mondays), Branksome Chine Beach, Poole (Wednesdays and NEW Tuesday evenings), or Avon Beach, Christchurch (Thursdays).

We have funding available to deliver these courses for free to eligible participants (self funding also available) – get in touch today and we can have a chat! Everyone is welcome to experience the benefits of cold water immersion and learn how to safely enter and enjoy the sea.

Over 8 weeks, we'll teach you everything you need to know about cold-water dipping, under the supervision of our experienced trainers and qualified lifeguards. This ranges from kit advice to how to check the tides, what happens to your body in cold water to breathing techniques, and so much more.

You'll also become part of our Chilly Dippers community, so you can continue to dip in great company once the course is finished.

Times and dates are on the individual images.

Find out more: https://chilluk.org/hubs/england/dorset/chill-dorset/
Contact us: enquiries.chilldorset@chilluk.org

04/07/2025

We rely on an exceptional team of volunteers to help run our courses at our different locations. Here we introduce you to Nicky.

Nicky Pitcher – Chill Dorset Volunteer

Meet her at:
Avon Beach, Branksome Beach

Get to know Nicky:
“I was a participant on one of the early Chill Dorset courses and loved the ethos. I was so happy to accept an invite to join the team and support others to start their cold-water immersion journey. I swim (dip!) 3-4 times a week and benefit so much from having a brief interruption to my daily life and thoughts while in the water and being around like people. Chill Dorset has morphed into a supportive community of cold-water swimmers/dippers of all ages, which I’m proud to be part of.”

Top tip for new dippers:
“It’ll always feel cold going in, but you acclimatise quickly and have the best experience!”

Watch out for details of our autumn courses, starting in September 2025, which we will be posting very soon and will pin to the top of this page.

03/07/2025

Reminder our Pilates and sea dip event is on tomorrow. Starts 1:30 pm, come before to register, min £5 donation look out for the flags x

Beach Pilates & Sea Dip fundraising event 🌊🧘‍♀️🏊

We're fundraising to support the work we do at Chill Dorset! Bridge Health & Wellbeing are kindly running a Beach Pilates session, followed by a sea dip supported by the Chill team, including a qualified lifeguard.

📆 Friday 4th July
⏰ 1:30-2:30pm
📍Nr Beach Hut Cafe, Friars Cliff, Avon Beach, Christchurch
💷 Suggested minimum donation £5 (preferred in advance, or cash on the day)
🌐 Link to donate: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jocox-chilldorset
🔹 No need to book; just come along with a mat/towel

All donations go directly to Chill Dorset to support more people to attend our cold-water courses.

Let us know if you're coming!

Please SHARE this post with anyone you think would love to come along.

20/06/2025

Beach Pilates & Sea Dip fundraising event 🌊🧘‍♀️🏊

We're fundraising to support the work we do at Chill Dorset! Bridge Health & Wellbeing are kindly running a Beach Pilates session, followed by a sea dip supported by the Chill team, including a qualified lifeguard.

📆 Friday 4th July
⏰ 1:30-2:30pm
📍Nr Beach Hut Cafe, Friars Cliff, Avon Beach, Christchurch
💷 Suggested minimum donation £5 (preferred in advance, or cash on the day)
🌐 Link to donate: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jocox-chilldorset
🔹 No need to book; just come along with a mat/towel

All donations go directly to Chill Dorset to support more people to attend our cold-water courses.

Let us know if you're coming!

Please SHARE this post with anyone you think would love to come along.

18/06/2025

We're so excited to say that Chill Dorset has been nominated for a BBC Radio Solent Make a Difference Award 2025! 💜

This awards recognise individuals and groups who make life better for people in our communities.

In the next stage, the judges choose 32 people/groups to proceed to the final, which is in September – we'll let you know how we get on!

Will, Jo and the whole team are delighted to have received this nomination 🥰

15/06/2025

This year we launched our first Chill Dorset course in Weymouth, which was a great success! The group from the course has continued to swim together since they finished – the start of a wonderful cold-water dipping community in the area.

Weymouth Coach Rumnique says: "Chill is more than the cold water swim itself; it makes a community and has formed so many friendships. It is so lovely to see everyone really enjoying themselves and still going strong! We still meet up every week and go for a swim together."

The next Weymouth course will be coming in September.

Find out more: https://chilluk.org/hubs/england/dorset/chill-dorset/
Contact us: enquiries.chilldorset@chilluk.org

13/06/2025

Our cold water courses run for eight weeks at a time, and we can experience everything from flat seas to crashing waves, sunny skies to bucketloads of rain in that time!

Our Spring courses have just come to an end with some amazing groups of participants. When we began these courses back in April, we were treated to bright sunshine and calm seas, but recent weeks have presented more of a challenge. We've even had to retreat into shelter to hide from the wind and rain for the practical elements of the course!

These types of weeks give us the opportunity to teach different skills, such as duck diving, demonstrating and encouraging our dippers to dive through the waves in choppier seas safely.

We've also spent time learning about rip tides, looking at photos of what to watch out for, as well as exploring useful apps for monitoring safe sea conditions, like Surfline (see our Pinned Post for more Resources).

Everyone has fully embraced the experience and a number of participants shared the benefits they had already gained from cold water immersion.

Well done everyone! 👏

If you're interested in our cold water sessions, keep your eye out for dates of the next courses.

29/05/2025

We want to say a huge thank you to Mel at The Wild Swimming Co. for subsidising our new swimming hats!

These vibrant yellow hats are used by our Chill course participants, which helps us to keep the group together and stay safe and seen in the sea.

If you've got the wild swimming bug, do check out the amazing UK wild swims and retreats on The Wild Swimming Co's page or via: https://thewildswimming.co.uk/