For one hour, every year on Boxing Day, hundreds of normally sensible members of the community go totally insane and run into the sea, regardless of how cold it is, and some of them even dress up for the occasion.
The method behind their madness, though, is the raising of thousands of pounds for local or national charities. The "dippers", as we call them, get people to sponsor their lemming-like dash into the sea and the Folkestone Lions pass the monies raised onto the charities nominated by the dippers themselves and other local worthy causes. Each of the dippers gets a "hot toddy" and a commemorative medal to remind them of the occasion - as if the frost-bite and hypothermia weren't enough already....
The "nominated charity" could be their own club, school or community group so this is a great way for local organisations to raise their own funds without having to stage an event themselves.
Those that want to can dress up and enter the fancy dress competition that takes place for individual dippers or those taking part as a group. A range of other prizes is awarded as well, especially for the dipper raising the most money!!!
For the rest of us, it is a great way to recover from the Christmas excesses with a gentle stroll down to the Sunny Sands beach, where you can watch the free spectacle of others getting a soaking in the name of their good causes. Mind you, it's a great laugh for all concerned as well as the spectators.
Entry is by the submission of a sponsor form when your register on the day and you may download a copy from here
You will need Adobe Reader to read the form, this you can get from here
