It is a great privilege to be part of this project and finally to be able to announce that the study is now open for people who would like to take part. The study involves introductory outdoor swimming sessions during the summer or early autumn in 2024 and 2025.  We have swim coaches based as far north as Sunderland and as far south as Penzance in Cornwall. We have swim groups taking place in coastal locations, in rivers, lakes and outdoor swimming pools also called lidos. Particularly in these outdoor swimming pools you don’t need to have experience of swimming. To see where the nearest course is to you and the swim experience requirements for specific sites, visit our locations page

We have a great team ready to help explain the study, and support you with the steps to getting involved.  To find out more about our team go to our research team’s page

The study is a randomised controlled trial which is looking to find out if outdoor swimming courses could help people living with depression. This type of study means that people taking part will be randomised to either the swim course and continue with their usual care or continue with their usual care alone. We will follow both groups for 9 months and over that time participants will be asked to complete 3 surveys, they can complete the surveys online or our researchers can help over the phone. For participants in the usual care group they will also be able to take a swim course at the end of their involvement in the study. For more information about the study, please have a look at the study overview

For more information about the research that has been completed so far, you can find this  in the section ‘The Science behind OUTSIDE’.

Finally, if you’d like to take part and support OUTSIDE2 to find out whether outdoor swimming courses could help people living with depression, click here and complete this short form.

Thanks,

Heather Massey

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