Whitby's Boxing Day dip back again - here's how you can enter

It has become a tradition in Whitby to enjoy a refreshing post-Christmas dip in the North Sea on Boxing Day morning, while raising lots of money for local charities.

Fancy dress is a must for many dippers, with prizes available for the best – previous years have seen fantastic costumes such as dinosaurs, Batman and Robin, Christmas trees and even a team of traffic cones – and a fancy dress wedding proposal!

Dippers need to pay a £10 entry fee to take part and this will be paid directly to Whitby Lions, although you can still raise sponsorship for your chosen charity, with 100% of the money raised going to the charity/organisation of your choice.

Whitby Lions will issue a sponsor form to anyone who needs one.

However, unlike previous years, dippers will be fully responsible for distributing their sponsor money to their chosen charity, meaning it is easier for

people to enter the event and easier for the club to manage it.

Brian Harrison of Whitby Lions said: “This fun and frantic event has now been running over the last 48 years, originally seeing numbers soar from a handful of brave local citizens to more than 200 eager individuals travelling from far and wide, desperate to run into the wintry ice-cold waves of the North Sea.

"Although as you’d expect, you are more likely to see the big numbers witnessing the excitement from the side-lines.

"The Boxing Day has become a traditional family-friendly event with many families meeting up after Christmas Day to spending a lovely Boxing Day morning together.

“Our 2021 dip was the biggest ever with a record-breaking response, with over 230 dippers taking part and at least a thousand spectators supporting the event and joining in with the fun.

"As a result, the club directly raised over £3,000 to support their work helping local organisations and charities.

"The dippers themselves would have raised many thousands of pounds for various local and national charities.”

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

"We hope for an equally successful event this year,” added Brian, “and we hope the local community comes out to support ourselves, our dippers and the many charities involved by donating to our bucket collection.

"Keep an eye out for our festive street collectors.”

Visit www.whitbylionsclub.org.uk to register and pay your entry fee for the dip – there is a PayPal link.

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

You can also register and pay on the day by credit/debit card at the registration tent at the Bandstand.

The club thanks everyone who enters, volunteers and especially The Whitby Pet Shop for taking the time to register our dippers, Esk Valley Coaches and their staff who volunteer their coaches each year, Whitby Diving Club who help to ensure the safety of dippers and Whitby’s RNLI inshore lifeboat.