On Sunday, April 30, Duns Community Nursery held the first of hopefully many “Duns Dooks” at Whiteadder Watersports Centre. The Dook was organised to raise funds for the new not-for-profit community-led nursery that opened on Monday, April 3, as well as to draw attention to the national childcare crisis where too many nurseries are closing their doors due to insufficient funds.
The staff, directors, parents and friends of Duns Community Nursery gathered on Sunday dressed in bright pink, with a few flamingos thrown in because, why not… if we are going to jump in freezing 10 Degrees Celsius water, we might as well pretend it is tropical! Mind over matter and embrace the exhilarating experience was the mentality we went for and it certainly worked.
We chose to hold the Duns Dook up at Whiteadder Watersports Centre because not only is the location stunning, but Andrea and the team are brilliant, professional and extremely accommodating. Another group of amazing local people who helped pull off the Duns Dook were the Coldingham Brave Bayers, an informal group of likeminded individuals who want to find connection through their love of cold water and to swim outdoors. Brave Bayers Linzi and Sharron helped Andrea’s team make sure we were all safe but had the best day, full of belly aching laughs.
The day was about awareness and community. There was 22 Dookers and roughly 20 spectators. Our youngest and bravest dooker was Thomas at just 5 years old! We had tea, coffee, hot chocolate and plenty of cake donations, The Frangipane Bakery in Coldstream donated some delicious gluten free Blondies and flapjacks that went in a flash! Duns Swimming Pool donated a banner which we will be using at all our fund raising events, on the back of the banner we plan to document each event, date and money raised. The coming together of all these local groups and businesses is what made the day such a success and is also what makes a community.
Counting up all the money raised online, as well as offline sponsorship and donations on the day we have managed to raise £3097 which is incredible!
Rachel Burnett, Nursery Manager said:
“I was very nervous about going in the water, not just because of the cold but also due to not being a confident swimmer. It’s scary not knowing what it’ll be like going in. However, once I was in and able to control my breathing it felt quite good.
The best tip I received was to keep my hands out of the water as putting them in makes you feel colder. As soon as I came out I just felt super chuffed for everyone who came and did it with us. It was a great feeling and actually makes me want to do it all again and surprisingly I didn’t feel cold afterwards.
Doing the dook for the nursery was a brilliant idea brought to us, not only to raise money but to get the nursery’s name out their and to show how passionate we are about making the place a success but also just about having fun, I am so grateful to everyone from volunteers, sponsors, directors and staff who helped joined in and even brought family members to join in.
As a team we continue to grow and make the nursery the best place we possibly can, it’s needed in the community. Also the amount we raised is fantastic! It’s unbelievable to have this kind of support from our community.”
The Southern Reporter's article on the Dook:
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