About Wild Wimmin

The Wild Wimmin Story

In the year of Our Lord 2020 there was bestowed upon the earth a deadly virus that changed the world as we knew it. Everything stopped. Businesses closed, schools shut down and people were ordered to stay at home to prevent the virus from spreading. We had to wear masks, stop touching each other and learn odd new phrases like ‘social distancing’ and ‘self-isolate’. We learned some positive lessons about how nice it was not spending hours on trains or in traffic commuting to work when all we had to do was rock up to our own dining tables and only dress respectably from the waist upwards. Across the nation people banged saucepans to thank the NHS for being awesome and most people realised that teachers are in fact all angels in disguise sent from above.

Some people took the time to reflect on what is truly important in life. Some of us lost our jobs and in turn found ourselves again. Some of us started wild swimmin with other Wimmin and have never felt more alive.

We are those Wild Wimmin and our story is just beginning. Join our tribe and help us write the next chapter…

 
jenny and heather

Jenny

I’m Jenny, originally from Templepatrick in Co. Antrim and I moved to Stirling, Scotland in 1993 to go to uni. I have spent my whole career in the charity sector and in 2020 I was made redundant from my role as a charity CEO and I now run my own coaching and mentoring business, supporting people to reach their potential. When I’m not working, I’m often found in a Loch or coaching junior hockey. I live at the foot of the beautiful Ochil Hills in Clackmannanshire with my husband Allan, my son Alex, daughter Anna and our ‘lockdown Labrador’, Pepper.

I started the Wild Wimmin Swimmin Facebook group in the summer of 2020 because all our pools were closed and because I wanted to try something different alongside other Wimmin – what I didn’t expect was it to impact so profoundly on my life. I like a challenge and conquering Mt Kilimanjaro (yes, really) was one of the best and toughest experiences of my life and through this I learned that when you do things that scare you, they might just change your life.

Heather and I will be forever grateful to all our Wild Wimmin whose courage to step out of their comfort zones inspired us to turn our idea into reality – you are all amazing, thank you.

Heather

I’m Heather, I’m from Clackmannanshire and I have a background in sport with a degree in sports science from the University of Glasgow. I’m a retired ninja – once upon a time I was a member of the Scottish Karate team and I competed at National, European and world championship level and even managed to win a European title. I love a challenge and my biggest one to date was cycling from London to Paris although I’m not sure I’d be in too much of a rush to do it again.

After a 10-year career in retail, I was made redundant in 2020. Afterwards I found wild swimming and the physical and more importantly the mental health benefits were life changing for me. It’s a well-known fact among my friends and family that being cold is my least favourite thing but I kept swimming through the winter and it helped me to rebuild myself and to shine a light on what is really important to me.

I took the time to retrain and I now run my own holistic therapy business. My love for the outdoors has been amplified since I started my wild swimming journey. I’m married to Duncan and we’re raising Eilidh, who is definitely a Wee Wild Wimmin in training.