Hey, us 2 Adam and Siân are going to take a plunge into any form of water every day of 2020! It will mostly be the Sea but will be anything we are close to - Lakes/rivers/waterfalls/large ponds.

The money we raise will go towards tackling problems of loneliness and social isolation within our community. Having a community focused coffee shop (The Sea Shanty) we have met so many people who are living alone and vulnerable. This prompted our further enquiry into the issues of loneliness and how we could begin to tackle it at whatever scale we can. In our search we discovered some shocking and heartbreaking statistics.

Loneliness can increase your risk of death by 29%.

1/2 million older people go at least six days a week without any interaction at all.

In the UK over 9 million people across all ages are either always or often lonely.

Over half of people aged 75 are living alone in the UK.

Where is the money going?

80% of the funds will go to Age UK Wirral. We have requested for the funds we are donating to be directly focused on tackling loneliness and social isolation within the local community of New Brighton, Wallasey, Seacombe and Poulton. Age UK Wirral provide community outreach, door knocking, meet ups, intergenerational projects, Christmas meals, etc. We think they are a great charity and meet the area of need that we had initially been responding to.

10% of the funds will remain within The Sea Shanty. This will be completely transparent and the funds are there to be utilised by anyone in the local community that requests support for a vulnerable individual. Over the previous year we had Homeless donations that enabled us to respond quickly and bridge the gap for vulnerable individuals needing immediate support, buying warm clothes, sleeping bags and sometimes even a night at the Travel lodge. We want to provide something similar for this cause too. We need volunteer led initiatives, we ask people to engage with your neighbours who are isolated and potentially lonely. We want to provide you with some funds to take them out for a brew and share some stories together.

10% will be used to create outreach packs that we will be posting out to our neighbourhood, included will be signposting to services and community spaces to encourage engagement - we will be looking for volunteers to help us with the hand outs.

We will also be supporting Age UK Wirral over the Christmas period at The Sea Shanty, providing a Boxing day Afternoon Tea for those who are isolated and alone in the area. Age UK Wirral are looking for volunteers who are willing to take up some of their day to deliver a meal and maybe have a little chat and share some festive smiles with people on their doorsteps.

Support us to reach out within our local community.