Rachel Ashe has always struggled with her mental health. But after a particularly vile year, she impulsively took part in the Loony Dook, a New Year’s Day swim in the chilly Firth of Forth in Scotland. “I hated it!” she says. “But afterwards, I felt just a little glimmer of hope.”
On her return home to Swansea, that glimmer was enough to motivate her to take to the water again and invite others experiencing mental health challenges to come along. Five years on, Ashe, who has complex mental health issues, an autism diagnosis and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, heads up Mental Health Swims, a peer-support community with 140 groups across the UK.
