The Porthcawl Christmas Morning Swim committee held a special presentation evening on Friday 15th February celebrating the 54th annual swim. Prostate Cymru’s Chief Executive Tina Tew and President David Brace OBE were invited to the event at Hi Tide Inn in Porthcawl as representatives of the nominated charity. A grand total of £7000 was presented to Prostate Cymru. The total was raised by participants online via JustGiving, sponsorship, collections on Christmas Day, quizzes at The Seagull pub in Nottage and raffles at the Hi Tide. Speaking at the presentation, organiser Dave King praised Prostate Cymru for being a great help in guiding fundraisers through online platforms such as JustGiving which contributed around £4000 to the total.
Several other organisations and local causes also received donations at the presentation evening, highlighting how the event supports the community in Porthcawl and Bridgend. £17,000 raised by the Porthcawl Buckaneers from the Porthcawl Christmas Swim and the equally popular Porthcawl Carnival was shared out between 20 local charities and organisations. A special presentation was made to Mike and Norah Clarke who have been Father and Mother Christmas at the swim for several years.
More than 1300 swimmers braved the cold at the Porthcawl Christmas Morning Swim on Christmas Day for Prostate Cymru, the largest turnout in the event’s history. Amongst the thousands of swimmers were Prostate Cymru’s President David Brace OBE, Prostate Cymru’s Chairman Andy Thomas, the charity’s GP champion Dr Janine David, the Nice 2 Rome cyclists and awareness rugby sevens team the Prostate Cymru Allstars. In addition to the record number of entrants there were around 4000 spectators creating a fantastic, supportive and positive atmosphere. Many of the participants embraced the fancy dress theme of superheroes.
The Porthcawl Christmas Morning Swim was established in 1965 and has raised thousands of pounds for local charities and organisations over the last fifty years. It’s one of the key events of the year for Porthcawl and Bridgend with visitors and swimmers attending from all over the world as well as locally.