Fife wild swimmers’ £7000 to charities after 12-hour sunrise to sunset challenge

The Bonnie Black Swans donated the funds to RNLI Kinghorn, Cherished Souls and Change Mental Health.

The money were raised after its members took the plunge at wild swimming points up and down the Kingdom’s coast in a 'sunrise to sunset’ challenge.. The group raised funds through Just Giving and hosting events in the lead up to the swims, with each charity receiving £2731.44.

Starting at Aberdour at sunrise, they completed 12 stops, finishing at Elie and were joined by local wild swimming groups along the way.

Bonnie Black Swans founder, Linda Kane, said the fundraising was an opportunity to give back to the organisations that have helped them.

She said: “One of the girls in the group came up with the RNLI, obviously because we use the water.

“A few of us have taken up swimming because of mental health. We’ve had people who turn up on their own after their counsellor suggested they try wild swimming – so we looked for local groups and got in touch with Change Mental Health”.

The group also raised money for Cherished Souls, run by one of Linda's colleagues at Pathhead Primary School. The organisationy hopes to be able to use the donation to further expand mental health resources available at the primary school.

It also hopes to open a mental health drop-in at Balmule Valley Fishery, a popular field trip for pupils at the Kirkcaldy school.

The fundraisers were able to handover the cheques at Kinghorn RNLI at the weekend, when they were given a tour of the facilities.

Linda said: “They were great, they gave us a tour and went into a lot of the logistics behind it. You don't really realise how dangerous it is for these guys, who are all volunteers, so it was a bit of an eye opener”.

After staging the fundrsaiser, Linda joked that the group might not be doing it for some time.

She added: “We’re thinking maybe every three years!”