A CHARITY event saw people swim up to 200m in a cold lake at the weekend.

The fundraiser, which took place at Bicester Hotel, Golf and Spa in Chesterton on Sunday, was for homelessness charity Crisis.

People dressed in wetsuits and took the plunge, swimming either 50m, 100m or 200m in the hotel's outdoor swimming lake which was recently built. So far, £2,100 has been raised.

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Bicester Hotels Resort Sales Manager, Lee Wood said: "It was a fantastic event to bring the local and wider community together to raise funds for this amazing cause, the last 12 months have been extremely challenging, more so for charities up and down the country.

"We are privileged that we got to organise and host this event, with over £2100 already raised we are pleased to say that we will be running our second IceBreaker Event in the early months of 2022."

To open the ribbons on the event Miss Oxfordshire was the first to take the dip despite having never attempted outdoor swimming before.

Nic Hogarth, co-event organiser from the Crisis Charity: “Crisis would like to say a huge thank you to all the amazing Icebreaker participants who braved the freeze on Sunday to help make a different for the homeless across Oxfordshire.

"A big thank you also to Bicester Hotel, Golf and spa for hosting the event, we are looking forward to next year’s event already. Together we can end homelessness."

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