Hitting the water with Blue Balls Cornwall

Blueballs Cornwall was started in 2021 by two friends Tom & Ross, who wanted to share their stories & encourage men to uncover the health benefits that cold water swimming can have to your well-being.  We caught up with the group in Holywell Bay where they shared their life experiences and why cold-water swimming has been so beneficial for their mental health. They explained that the cold water is a great way to release the stresses of day-to-day life, relieve anxiety & depression and to help cope & deal with trauma & grief. There is a real stigma among men, where opening up and talking about emotions is bottled, community groups like Blueballs are out there to help elevate those pressures and get men opening up, sharing stories & chatting to reduce the suicide rates within the UK.

Unfortunately, suicide rates are ever-increasing with 75% of all suicides being male.  Around 12 men a day kill themselves as a result of mental illness. Ross has also started a project called ManDown Cornwall, that co insides with Blueballs which is a Cornish men’s mental health support group. The ManDown project provides informal peer-support talking to groups all over Cornwall for men with mental health concerns.