Tom Bowker's fundraiser for Ukraine

Hello, and thanks for visiting my fundraising page!

This winter has been especially harsh for Ukrainians; not only has the weather been extremely cold, but Russia has deliberately targeted energy and heating infrastructure in an attempt to break Ukrainians' will to continue defending their country and sovereignty.

It hasn't worked, but the heroic Ukrainians' suffering has been and continues to be real.

To show my solidarity I am getting into the freezing very cold North Sea every morning here in The Hague, and to raise money to repair homes and infrastructure to help Ukrainians make it through the rest of the winter.

My chosen charity is Kharpp, a UK-registered charity working to support communities in Kharkiv Oblast, which has been one of the worst hit regions of Ukraine. The charity works to rebuild homes, hospitals, schools, and community centres in formerly occupied and frontline villages, as well as providing generators, portable power stations, and satellite internet systems to villages which remain off-grid. They provide long term support, including making regular fuel runs to villages to ensure they can keep generators running.

How can you help?

Please pledge to keep me motivated to get in the sea every morning!

I started on Monday 2 February and haven't missed a day yet. I plan to keep going until the 20th of March - when the weather gets better it'll be too easy, and hopefully things will start getting sunnier for Ukraine, too.

I'd like people to pledge an amount for each day I go in. If you pledge £1, for example, you'll be on the hook for £7 a week (#maths), or £47 for the whole period, if my maths is correct (and if you're happy to backdate to the beginning). I'd like to get £100 a day for getting in, so we'd hit nearly £5000 by the end, which would be great. Even more would be greater still!

So either donate a lump sum now, or let me know in the comments what you're pledging. I'll try and post on social media each day that I go in - Bluesky and Mastodon.

Thank you for your support, and Slava Ukraini!!