Thurso campaigner says help is out there for women after 16-day swim challenge

Women suffering from domestic abuse and other forms of sexual violence need to know they can get help, a Thurso campaigner has said.

Lorna Stanger has just completed a 16-day swimming challenge along with friend and fellow campaigner LJ.

The pair swam a total of more than 11,000 metres in the sea as part of the United Nations’ 16 days of activism against gender-based violence between November 25 and December 10.

While they have been raising money for Caithness and Sutherland Women’s Aid (CASWA), Rape and Sexual Abuse Service Highland (RASASH), and Stepping Stones, Lorna said it is more important that women who are suffering know they are not alone.

Another Highland campaigner Myra Ross last year penned a hard-hitting 16-verse poem which Lorna says gives a voice to those who are usually silenced.

Lorna said: “It is very important to keep the issue of gender-based violence, sexual violence and violence against women highlighted, as it’s not just 16 days, its every day and forever.

“This needs to change, people need to be aware, voices need to be heard. Myra said her poem Imagine was ‘the story of the wounds of womanhood’. These things happen to women purely because they are women, and this narrative needs to change.

“Awareness is key, and for those who are ‘in it’ they need to be aware, and know, that they are not alone, and that they can get help. They need to know that they CAN reach out, and that help is there.”

Lorna said the support they have had during their challenge, which saw them brave chilly waters across Caithness, has been fantastic.

On day 14 they swam at Ackergill along with the “KW1 - Kool Water Sw1mmers” group, who were sporting moustaches as part of a separate Nippy Dippers Christmas challenge.

Most of the 16 daily swims were done in wetsuits, but three were done in normal swimming gear, and Lorna also added in two marathons to her schedule – following on from a “16 marathons in 16 days” challenge she completed in 2023 to highlight the 16 days of activism.

Lorna said: “The last day was brilliant, the conditions were really good and we had a few friends swimming with us. One had travelled up from Inverness by train and by bike to swim with us, and he then just went back the same way!

“We have had a lovely show of support from friends holding up laminated pages of 16 swims 16 days, and those laminated pages were very kindly done for us by Sutherland’s Photolab in Thurso.

“The support and solidarity has been amazing, we are so grateful, as this is such an important cause, but so difficult to ‘promote’. In doing this challenge, my aim was to raise awareness again, carrying on from my 16 marathons last year, and I do hope that we have been able to do so.

“Also, the fundraising will help so many people who need vital, sensitive support.”

The pair had raised £740 for the causes as of Thursday, with the JustGiving page still open at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lorna-stanger-5

Lorna added: “I was given another show of support today, as a result of my hair getting extremely tangled owing to wetsuit swimming, I was left with a really drastic hairdo – and worried that it may never be untangled.

“But I went to the old North Highland College [UHI North, West and Hebrides, in Thurso] and asked for any possible help at the hair and beauty department. A student and tutor spent an hour and a half detangling and for no charge, which was so kind of them.”

For anybody in need of help, Rape and Sexual Abuse Service Highland can be contacted for support on 03330 066909 or via text on 07451 288080, Mondays to Wednesdays and Fridays from 1pm to 5pm.

The Rape Crisis Scotland helpline on 08088 010302 is open daily from 5pm to midnight.

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