12 Bays of Christmas!
Jersey Hospice Care and The National Trust for Jersey have announced a new winter fundraiser, The 12 Bays of Christmas!
Hot off the heels of the ‘30 Bays in 30 Days’ sea swimming event which raised a record amount of £36,000 for the 2 charities this summer, the 12 Bays of Christmas is aimed at encouraging the hundreds of intrepid Islanders who brave the chilly waters of the channel every day throughout the year to meet a new festive challenge.
This event was inspired by an idea dreamt up by two families in Guernsey, the Marley and Sealey families, who are all keen sea swimmers. The festive challenge encourages islanders who have continued swimming since the summer or are seasoned year-round swimmers to take a dip in 12 bays listed on a map between 1 and 31 December. Each bay on the list has a festively-themed name, for example ‘Port let it Snow’, ‘Jingle all the Quaisne’ and so on.
The first 100 participants will receive a festive Santa hat, which will not only keep swimmers warm but also help people identify others who are taking part in the challenge and perhaps spark up a conversation.
Safety of swimmers is paramount so only those who are medically fit should consider taking part. Participants will also receive tips and information about how to stay safe during and after a cold water swim and wearing a wetsuit will be optional. The emphasis is also for people to take part within in their own limitations so there is no target time, distance or number of strokes to swim as with the 30 Bays in 30 Days event.
The cost of participation is £10 for adults and £5 for children under 12 and swimmers are encouraged to raise a minimum of £12 in sponsorship.
To register https://race-nation.co.uk/register/jhcnt/12-bays-of-christmas-2022
Welcome to 30 Bays in 30 Days
The List
In 2016, we launched a fundraising initiative in Jersey, called 30 Bays in 30 Days – and what a great success it was! We are delighted to confirm that the event will be held again this year and is going from strength to strength and we hope that as many people as possible will register to swim a minimum of 30 strokes in 30 bays from the list below. It all takes place between Friday 1st through to Sunday 31st July. Don’t worry if you can’t fit it all in during July – please carry on swimming in August so you can tick those bays off your personal list.
We encourage you to do as much or as little as you wish. How about swimming a minimum of 30 strokes 30 times in bays close to your home?
Maybe make an afternoon of walking from bay to bay to tick a few off or plan a couple of coastal swims, followed by a picnic or BBQ? It’s all about creating great memories and enjoying the summer fun.
The opening swim will take place on Friday 1st July at 6.00pm at St Brelade’s Bay and the closing swim on Sunday 31st July at 4.30pm at St Brelade’s Bay
We are fortunate to live on a beautiful island with many lovely beaches. Please remember to only leave footprints after your swims, to help keep the beaches and bays looking this way.
We are lucky to have so many amazing places to swim off Jersey, although some places may present a challenge to get to. If you would like to get involved, but think that you will be unable to swim at every bay on the list, you are free to choose which bays work for you, to complete 30 swims at those to complete the challenge.
Anne Port
Archirondel
Beauport
Belcroute
Belval Cove
Bonne Nuit Bay
Bouley Bay
Fliquet Bay
Grouville Bay - Longbeach
Grouville Bay – Slip by Rhona’s Cafe
Green Island
Grève d'Azette
Grève dé Lecq
Havre Des Pas and Lido Bathing Pool
La Coupe
La Pulente
La Rocque
Le Hocq
Le Saie
Ouaisné
Plémont
Portelet Bay
Robin Bay
Rozel Bay
St Aubin’s Bay (La Haule)
St Brelade’s Bay
St Catherine’s (Breakwater slip)
St Ouen’s Bay - La Pulente
St Ouen’s Bay - Le Braye
St Ouen’s Bay - El Tico
St Ouen’s Bay - Watersplash
St Ouen’s Bay (opposite) Jersey Pearl – Not Lifeguarded
St Ouen’s Bay - L’Etacq – Not Lifeguarded
Les Êcréhous
Les Minquièrs
The whole concept celebrates the fact that we are lucky enough to have so many amazing places to go sea swimming, so please try to stick with the spirit of the challenge by not wearing wet-suits. Please don’t let this put you off from signing up to the event though, as we would much rather you were able to join in and enjoy the experience, than miss out. If you are feeling brave on a warm day, you could always try a few swims without the wet-suit. Hopefully, the sea will be getting warmer by July!
WHERE ARE THEY?
If you haven’t heard of some of these bays before or want to remind yourself how to get to them, we’ve written a little booklet. It includes a map with a rough location for the bays, a description of what they’re like and if they have any facilities nearby (such as refreshments and toilets). Just print it off as a booklet and tick off those bays throughout the month.
Visit Jersey also offer a guide to some of the beaches : Jersey beach guide link from Visit Jersey
WHEN IS BEST TO SWIM WHERE?
Some of the bays are equally enjoyable to swim at any time of day or state of tide, but others definitely have an optimum tide to experience it at its best.
Click here for the States of Jersey weather forecast
SWIMMING HATS
We are giving out a free swim hat to the first 500 people registered as part of your entry. Your hat can be collected from The National Trust in St Mary, Jersey Hospice Care, Mont Cochon and from Andersons at Le Quennevais and Waterloo Street, St Helier.
Where your money will go
Jersey Hospice Care and The National Trust for Jersey are delighted to be working together to co-ordinate the 30 Bays in 30 Days initiative.
With the ever increasing number of charities competing for the same funds, as well as an abundance of physical challenges and events taking place, we decided to work together to raise awareness of our charities and encourage islanders to get involved with fundraising and, at the same time, encourage the benefits of sea swimming.
Jersey Hospice Care
Many people think that hospices are places of sadness focused on death and dying. In fact our focus is on living and living well right up to the end, making memories and spending time with your family.
Our care is about so much more than the specialist palliative treatment of a person’s physical symptoms. It’s a total philosophy of care, offering spiritual and emotional support that extends to family members and carers. For each person we are privileged to care for, we only get one chance at the end of life to get it right and that’s why we strive every day to go that extra mile for our patients and their families, to make extraordinary care our ‘ordinary’. Helping each person we care for, to get the best out of every day and to make each day count.
We couldn’t do this without the generosity of our local community and the support of our amazing volunteers.
In 2019 we launched our out-reach service for babies, children and young people with a life-limited condition. This included our Tots & Toys group for babies and children up to five years old. This service is in addition to our Emotional Support service for children and young people and their families, which we started in 2017.
The National Trust for Jersey
The National Trust for Jersey was established in 1936. Today the Trust cares for 30 historic buildings, 1,750 vergées of land (covering 174 sites) and over 19,000 metres of public footpath.
Our vision is to protect Jersey’s natural beauty, preserve its rich wildlife and safeguard its historic buildings permanently for everyone to enjoy and experience. Our core principles are conservation, public benefit and sustainability.
We aim to achieve this through vigilance, sustainable management and by promoting and increasing awareness of the value of the countryside and historic environment to our economy and the benefits this has for both our mental and physical wellbeing.
WHY?
- Embrace the summer and set yourself a new challenge
- Visit new places you’ve never been to before or haven’t visited for years.
- Ditch the car and walk or cycle where you can
- Sea swimming has proven benefits for mental health and wellbeing.
- Sea swimming makes you feel alive and loving life!
- Support two great local charities
WHEN?
- The challenge runs between 1st July and 31st July. It would really help the organisation of the event if you could register as soon as possible.
- Swim before work, lunchtimes, daytime, after work, before a picnic tea, by moonlight ... basically anytime you can fit it in. Be organised with your swim stuff, keep it in the car or in your ruck sack, and within the time it would have taken you to make and drink a cuppa you will have ticked another bay swim off the list.
- Every swim will be different depending on the tides, weather, who you’re with, time of day ... the list goes on. So what are you waiting for – jump in this July
HOW?
Sponsorship Form
Please make cheques payable to Jersey Hospice Care or The National Trust for Jersey. Please contact us for further details on how to pay your sponsorship money in. Any queries please e-mail: fundraising@jerseyhospicecare.com or enquiries@nationaltrust.je
Registration
The cost for taking part is:
£12 per adult and £6 if under 18
Family registration £30 (Max 5)
Corporate Registration £60 (Team of 5)
The Serious Bit
Enjoy and please spread the good word!
Contact information
If you have any queries or feedback on the event, please do not hesitate to get in contact:
Email : 30baysin30daysjersey@gmail.com
Website: www.30bays30days.org.je
If you would like to find out more about the two benefiting charities, please see contact details below:
Jersey Hospice Care : jerseyhospicecare.com
Telephone: 01534 510349
Address: Mont Cochon, St Helier, Jersey, JE2 3JB
The National Trust for Jersey : nationaltrust.je
Telephone: 01534 483193
Address: The Elms, La Chève Rue, St Mary, JE3 3EN
Email : enquiries@nationaltrust.je
BEACH SAFETY & TIDETABLE
Beach Restrictions For Dogs
Dealing with a Weaver Fish sting
Weaver Fish are normally found around the low tide mark. These small fish raise sharp needles on their backs in self-defence if trodden on and these can be extremely painful. Place the affected area in water as hot as you can stand. Test the water first so as not to scald the person who has been stung.
Dealing with a Jellyfish sting
RNLI – Beach safety advice
Link to RNLI Beach Safety Guide
A big thanks to
Liz Stonebridge who created this event in Guernsey and was happy to share this initiative with us here in Jersey
The Potting Shed – Ed Prow
Fuse2 – Tim Gaudion
Network Insurance & Financial Planning – Oliver Goater
Pentagon Building Merchant
RNLI Lifeguards