Whitby Boxing Day dip is back - with Bangers and Cash TV star involved

Last year’s dip was the biggest ever with a record-breaking 329 dippers taking part, with the event raising an “incredible” £5,590 for the club to support its work helping organisations and charities in the Whitby area.

It was a great crowd-puller with at least 1,000 spectators watching on last December, from the west pier and various vantage points around Battery Parade and the clifftops.

It has become somewhat of a tradition in Whitby to enjoy a refreshing dip in the North Sea on Boxing Day morning.

It's a unique and memorable experience that will raise lots of money for local charities.

Fancy dress is a must, for many dippers, with prizes available for the best.

Previous years have seen the likes of Batman and Robin, Christmas trees and a team of traffic cones enter the water – there has even been a fancy dress wedding proposal!

This year organisers Whitby Lions are excited to announce that Derek Mathewson from the TV programme Bangers and Cash will be judging and handing out prizes for the fancy dress competition.

As a thank you to Derek for supporting the dip, the Lions will be making a £500 donation to Martin House Children’s Hospice.

Entry costs £10 per person; this will be paid direct to Whitby Lions.

To pay your entry fee and request a sponsor form for the dip, please go to www.whitbylionsclub.org.uk and go to the Boxing Day Dip page to pay by PayPal.

Alternatively, you can enter and pay at The Whitby Pet Shop on Station Square and collect a sponsor form.

You can also enter and pay on the day by credit/debit card at the registration tent which is located near the bandstand on Pier Road.

People who wish to raise sponsorship for their chosen charity, with 100% of the money they raise going to the charity/organisation of their choice, will be fully responsible for collecting and then distributing their sponsor money to their chosen charity.

Whitby Lions will not be involved in the process.

This method of running the event has hugely increased the numbers of people wanting to take part.

This fun and frantic event has now been running over the last 49 years, originally seeing numbers soar from a handful of brave citizens to more than 300 eager individuals travelling from far and wide, keen to run into the ice cold waves of the North Sea.

The 2019 dip featured on national television with BBC Breakfast filming live at the event on Boxing Day morning.

Brian Harrison of Whitby Lions said: “We hope for another equally successful event this year.

"Thank you to our local community who generously support ourselves, our dippers and the many charities involved.

"Keep an eye out for our festive street collectors who will be giving away a chocolate sweet for every donation.”

To keep up to date for the latest event information please visit the Whitby Lions Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages.

The club thanks all dippers who enters, volunteers and The Whitby Pet Shop for taking the time to register the dippers, Whitby Diving Club who help to ensure the safety of dippers and Whitby’s RNLI. inshore lifeboat.