Why you might see a man jumping into cold water every morning

But that is exactly what a Marlborough man is planning to do.

Tim Seaton has carrying out what he calls “Mindful December Chill” to raise money for the charity Mind.

Every day in December he will be getting into cold water, no matter what the weather- an activity which has helped his own mental health over the years.

While it may be a river or a lake on some of the days, on others it could even be his recycling wheelie bin filled with water.

Tim Seaton facing the elements (Image: Tim Seaton)

He is planning to swim and float along with the flow of the water, or just sit there to embrace the temperatures.

Tim has previously taken part in a similar event this January called the “January Daily Dip”.

It has been running for six years, and this year there were 40 of them around the country, and they managed to raise £40,000.00 for Crisis.

 But he only moved to Marlborough from Wokingham six months ago so this will be the first time he has taken part in a cold-water challenge in Wiltshire.

Tim’s idea is to also practise mindfulness each day to put himself in the present moment and upload a video each day to his Instagram.

Tim said: “Cold water is great for putting you slap bang into the present moment.

“There is increasing scientific evidence emerging which backs up the anecdotal evidence that there’s a positive correlation between cold water immersion and good mental health.

Tim Seaton facing the elements (Image: Tim Seaton)

“Women, it would appear are naturally better sometimes at supporting each other but men do sometimes need to improve in that but what I’ve noticed in the open water swimming community is that men are more willing to support each other and talk to each other- and that’s something we’ve heard a lot in the news, that men should be doing a little bit more of that.

“The relationships you form doing things like this are invaluable- there’s a lot of laughing as you survive the cold water together and it’s actually a time when all sorts of things come out.”

Tim Seaton and his friends (Image: Tim Seaton)

Although Tim has set this up on his own, and is hopeful that other winter swimmers will join him on this challenge.

His aim is to raise £1000 for Mind, but is crossing his fingers that this could end up being more.

You can donate at his Just Giving page here.