What is Freezebury?
Many people around this time of year in recent times, find themselves asking what exactly is 'Freezebury" and why on earth our people even taking part!
The initiative was the brainchild of former professional rugby player Damien Browne, as a way of getting people out of their comfort zones for the month of February. Participants from all corners of the country commit to getting into an open water source ever day, adding a minute each day. So one minute on February 1, two minutes on February 2, and so on, until they reach the 28th day of the month enduring an insane 28 minutes in the water.
The idea behind the initiative:
Originally thought of a way to get people out of their 'comfort zone' for the month, Freezebury quickly became a fantastic initiative for charities as participants decided not only to partake in the challenge for themselves but also while raising much needed funds for charities at the same time. A real win-win idea!
All sorts of charities across Ireland have benefited greatly from the initiative. As the challenge gathered momentum over time, it is reaching new levels of participants every year, and as well as this has come the emergence of the Freezebury logo.
Paul Neiland, of the Bray Swimmers group who took part in the initiative in 2020 in aid of Pieta House had this to say regarding the logo:
"If you look at the Freezebury logo it's very fitting as there's a lot of stuff under the surface that we don't talk about enough and we really should be. People that can help might never know unless we're not afraid to open up about these things.
The logo depicts a glacier under the surface, and also incorporates a semi-colon which is a symbol for suicide prevention. The semi-colon represents a 'pause', a place where the sentence could have ended but was able to carry on."
It is fair to say Freezebury is an amazing idea benefitting not just those who take part but as well as all the worthwhile charities people use the challenge to fundraise for .