Whitby's Boxing Day Dip is Back

The popular event returns to Whitby bandstand on Boxing Day morning.

There's fancy dress judging and more as well as a continuation of the new way Whitby Lions Club are running the event.

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It has become somewhat of a tradition in our beautiful little seaside town to enjoy a rather refreshing dip in the North Sea on Boxing Day morning. It’s certainly 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! In previous years, we have had some fantastic costumes such as dinosaurs, Batman and Robin, Christmas trees and even a team of traffic cones and a fancy dress wedding proposal!

Following last years successful Boxing Day Dip, participants need pay a £10 entry fee in order to participate in the event; this will be paid direct to Whitby Lion’s (See below for ticket details). Participants can still raise sponsorship for their chosen charity, with 100% of the money they raise going to the charity/organisation of their choice. Please note, that if the participants require a sponsor form, Whitby Lion’s will still issue one. However, unlike previous years the participant will fully be responsible for distributing their sponsor money to their chosen charity. Whitby Lion’s will not collect everyone’s sponsorship money and then distribute it. This new method of running the event work well last year, it means its easier for participants to enter the event and easier for the club to manage the dip.

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 over 160 eager individuals travelling from far and wide, desperate to run into the wintery 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 had 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 £3,000.00 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. During our 2019 dip, we also 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 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.

To register for the dip, please either sign up using the PayPal link below then we will email a sponsor form to you or you can register and pay at The Whitby Pet Shop,15 Station Square Whitby and collect a sponsor form. You can also register and pay on the day by credit/debit card or cash at the registration tent at the bandstand. To keep up to date for the latest event information please visit the Whitby Lions Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages.

The club would again like to thank 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 kindly volunteer their coaches each year and Whitby Diving Club who help to ensure the safety of our dippers.