A COMBER woman raised over £2,900 for the RNLI with her annual charity sea dip in honour of her late son.
Kim Armstrong presented Portaferry RNLI volunteers with a cheque last week after her successful fundraising event, ‘Dash for Dougie’.
The event, which took place on June 21 at Strangford Lough Yacht Club, is organised yearly by Kim in memory of her son Steven ‘Dougie’ Dugan, who passed away in 2022, aged 33, after a short illness.
The event was held a day before what would have been Steven’s 37th birthday and his 11 year-old son Xander was in attendance.
Dashing into the cold sea, Kim was joined by her family and some of the Bathing Belles of Whiterock who she swims with almost daily.
Kim, who started cold water swimming during lockdown, laughed previously, that while her son came to watch her brave the chilly open sea, he didn’t take a dip himself.
She raises money for different charities with her fundraisers and said she was inspired to raise funds for the RNLI this year due to her love of cold water swimming.
Portaferry RNLI fundraising chairwoman, Pat Browne, commented: “This is a fantastic amount of money for us to have received in memory of Kim’s son, and it was a really great day in the sunshine at the well supported event back in June.
“We would like to thank Kim, the Bathing Belles, and everyone who donated. Also the members of Strangford Lough Yacht Club for hosting this year’s Dash for Dougie and for their hospitality while we were there.
“Kim is an incredible lady, her enthusiasm is infectious, and the money she has raised will be spent on both kit and training which will allow our volunteer lifeboat crew to continue to save lives at sea.”
