Winning streak!

A RATHER cheeky fundraiser took place last Sunday week (June 8) at a secret location in north county Dublin for a very good cause.

A large group of women brushed aside their inhibitions to take part in the sixth annual Dip in the Nip event. They took to the freezing cold water at a local beach to raise money for the ARC Cancer Support Centre.

The charity event began in 2009 when a couple of hundred women charged into the North Atlantic Sea. It has since grown to five different dips nationwide with thousands of men and women taking part.

Now in its sixth year, there are Dips for women, Dips for men and Dips for couples, and a total of four Dips are taking place throughout the month of June in different locations around the country.

The cheeky charity is the brainchild of Chief Dipper Máire Garvey, a Donegal native who conjured up this liberating event after visiting a psychic during a low point in her life.

After the first year in Sligo the project took wings as a fundraiser and has spread to north county Dublin.

However, the concept has had a deeper, more important influence, as most of the participants have never done anything like it before. It provides a sense of joy and liberation, particularly for those with body image issues.

Ms Garvey, fresh from her latest Dip, told Northside People:

“It makes us realise our bodies are wonderful. Too often we abuse them and don’t see the beauty. In the ocean everybody is equal. Proud bellies, mastectomy scars, cellulite, we’re all there.

“Skinny-dipping is the ultimate in life affirmation, so the Dip in the Nip lets us celebrate life in all its beauty.

“Many of the participants had experienced cancer, either their own, or with somebody close.

“Some had lost loved ones and, indeed, some dippers have died since doing their own dip. Some even joined while in treatment.

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One of the main goals of the Dip in the Nip Foundation is to ensure that every single chemotherapy patient who wants access to a scalp cooler shall have it within five years.

Scalp coolers are pieces of equipment that minimise and often prevent hair loss in chemotherapy.

There are only 16 currently in Ireland, the most recent one having been purchased by the Dip in the Nip Foundation in 2011.

Ms Garvey believes that she can achieve more by setting up a fundraising and grant-giving foundation that can support existing cancer charities that are doing sterling work but struggle with funding.