PAST EVENTS
Crazywell Pool, Dartmoor
FIRST CRAZYWELL ICE SWIM
30mm of ice. No wetsuits. The middle of winter on Dartmoor. Our first ice-water challenge took us to the legendary Crazy Well Pool, where we took turns smashing through the frozen surface before swimming beneath the surrounding ice. The cold was relentless, but together we raised an incredible £4,700 for Devon Mind. This was where the Tugs adventure really began.
Amount Raised:
£4,700
crazywell, dartmoor
CRAZYWELL SWIM 2.0
Freezing water. Fierce winds. An amber weather warning. And a dinghy full of lifeguards to tow. Crazy Well 2.0 remains one of the toughest events the Tugs have ever taken on, completing lengths of the pool while battling brutal cold, wind and rain. A true test of resilience, it formed part of our wider campaign for Devon and Cornwall Food Action, which raised an incredible £10,000.
Amount Raised:
£10,000
FINLAKE, DEVON
24 HOUR ICE SWIM
24 hours. Ten minutes at a time. Through the day, through the night, and straight back into the freezing water. By day there were spectators, music and a DJ to carry us through. Then darkness fell, the crowds disappeared and the music stopped. Just a freezing winter night, an illuminated pool and the silence of swimming alone in the cold.
You’d climb out shaking, get dry, force down some food and finally crawl into the warmth of your sleeping bag. Then came the dreaded tap on the shoulder. Back out into the darkness, strip off, pull a freezing wet swimming costume against warm skin and walk towards the water knowing exactly how that first step was going to feel. With most of the team completing six or seven rotations, the night became a relentless cycle of cold, recovery and cold again. That’s where the event really began.
BORINGDON PARK GOLD CLUB, PLYMOUTH
FIGHT NIGHT 1.0
Tugboats & Dolphins stepped into the ring for their first charity Fight Night. Local competitors trained, fought and put on an unforgettable evening of entertainment and fundraising.
nov 2024 | Cattewater, Barbican, Plymouth
WINTER SWIM FEST 24
More than 100 people braved the cold for a weekend of swimming, teamwork and community fundraising. It became one of the group’s biggest events to date.
Amount Raised:
OVER £10K
dartmoor, Plymouth
DARTMOOR 35 MILE HIKE
16 hours of torrential rain and wind. In March. Nothing stayed dry. Nothing was sacred. This wasn’t one of our hardest hikes because of the distance or elevation, it was the relentless weather. Even top-end Gore-Tex eventually surrendered, and the dry kit waiting at our halfway checkpoint lasted an hour or two before it too was soaked through.
Cold, exhausted and with morale taking an absolute battering, a few members of the team discovered where their breaking point was, then somehow kept walking beyond it. We eventually emerged from Dartmoor wetter, slightly damaged, but together. The hike formed part of our wider campaign for Devon and Cornwall Food Action, which raised £10,000.
Rumour has it Darly Grigg was reborn that day.
Amount Raised:
OVER £10K
SNOWDONIA, WALES
WELSH 3000s: 33 MILE HIKE
Welsh 3000s: 33 miles. Every mountain over 3,000ft in Snowdonia. More than 4,000m of ascent. All in one go. We hit Crib Goch for sunrise, with Nicole facing her fear of heights in about the most extreme way possible, before pushing on through 15 hours of relentless climbing and descending.
By the latter stages, knees were in the bin, toenails were surrendering and conversation had largely disappeared. Hours passed in silence, occasionally broken by an “ouch” as someone stubbed a toe or volleyed another rock down a descent. Steep climbs tested the lungs, brutal descents battered the joints, and eventually there was nothing left to do but keep putting one foot in front of the other.
The Welsh 3000s formed part of our fundraising campaign for Crohn’s & Colitis UK, which raised £3,000.
Amount Raised:
£3,000
SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS
CAIRNGORMS 4000
Cairngorms 4000: Every peak over 4,000ft in the Cairngorms. One push. Some seriously big climbs. The mountains saved their worst for our biggest ascent, Ben Macdui at 1,309m, as the weather came crashing in with ferocious winds and hail that bit into any exposed skin. We huddled together for shelter, waited it out, then got back on our feet and carried on into the mountains.
Another properly wild day in the Scottish Highlands, completed as part of our fundraising campaign for Dementia UK.
LAKE DISTRICT
LAKES 24 HOURS: 28 MILES
Lake District Challenge: 24 of the Lake District’s highest peaks. 28 miles. One day. Huge climbs, relentless descents and just about every type of weather the Lakes could throw at us. This one was all about the team, with a big group of Tugs heading into the mountains together, spurring each other on when the miles and elevation started to bite.
A long, tough day in the fells, made possible by everyone pulling together and refusing to leave anyone behind.
OCT 2025 | BORINGDON PARK GOLf CLUB, Plymouth
FIGHT NIGHT 2.0
Fight Night returned with another line-up of local competitors, live bouts and community support, helping raise vital funds for Dame Hannah Rogers Trust. Part of a wider fundraising campaign for Dame Hannahs.
Amount Raised:
£16,300
PEAK DISTRICT
PEAK DISTRICT CHALLENGE
Peak District Challenge: 32 miles. North to south across the Peak District. 16 hours of rain, fog and increasingly questionable life choices. After driving all the way from Plymouth, we were greeted by weather so bad that at times you could barely see the person walking in front of you. Morale took a hammering, resilience was tested, and the miles dragged us deep into the night.
For the final few miles, a rapidly rising river added a little extra encouragement, chasing at our heels and giving tired legs a very good reason to keep moving. The challenge formed part of our wider fundraising campaign for the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust, which raised an incredible £16,300.
Amount Raised:
£16,300
Mont blanc, french alps
MONT BLANC CHALLENGE
Mont Blanc: 4,808m. The highest mountain in Western Europe. Three days of climbing, and one summit we’ll never forget. After being turned back the previous year, returning to Mont Blanc and finally standing on the summit was one of the most incredible moments in Tugs history.
We took the long way, starting from Chamonix rather than taking the cable car. What followed was three days of intense scrambling, crossing the infamous Grand Couloir, traversing huge glaciers and tiptoeing across knife-edge ridges with thousands of metres falling away around us. Altitude sickness hit members of the team, exhaustion set in, and everyone had to work constantly for each other.
Then there was Abbie. Hit by a rogue boulder on day one as it broke loose above her, she somehow picked herself up and went on to climb another 2,500m. Truly inspirational. We’re still investigating whether Anson had anything to do with it.
Reaching the summit after the disappointment of the year before made it even sweeter. Mont Blanc remains one of the hardest, wildest and most unforgettable things we’ve ever done. This part of our fundraising campaign for Dame Hannah Roger's Trust
SCOTland
LOCH LOMOND ADVENTURE
Loch Lomond Adventure:Two days. Some of Loch Lomond’s highest peaks. And climbs that start almost straight from loch level. There’s very little warming up here. You get out of the car, look up, and begin grinding through 1,000m of ascent towards the summit.
Day one was suspiciously joyful, with sunshine and views across the lochs. Day two reminded us where we were. Gale-force winds and weather warnings battered the mountains, eventually forcing the team back from the summit of our final peak. We’ve pushed through some horrific conditions over the years, but knowing when to turn around matters too. The mountains won that day. This hike was part of a larger campign for St Luke's hospice Plymouth which raised £17,000
Amount Raised:
£17,000
FRANCE TO SPAin
ROSCOFF TO SANTANDER
Roscoff to Santander cycle: 00+ miles. Two countries. Three novice cyclists. What could possibly go wrong? Setting off from Roscoff with Santander somewhere on the horizon, the team battled extreme heat, red weather warnings for wind, storms, crashes and the occasional minor logistical issue, like running out of food.
It was a proper adventure, learning as we went and dealing with whatever the road decided to throw at us. But none of it would have been possible without Dennis ‘Edyta’, who drove the entire route solo, meeting us in the evenings at campsites with food and appearing at the occasional logistical checkpoint when we needed her most. While we got the glory for turning the pedals, she was the true hero of this story.
Hundreds of miles later, battered, considerably more experienced and somehow still moving, we rolled into Santander. Not bad for three people who didn’t really know what they were doing. The ride formed part of our wider fundraising campaign for the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust.
ENGLAND TO HUNGARY
DOVER TO BUDAPEST
Dover to Budapest: 1,163 miles across Europe, and genuinely one of the best experiences of our lives. We rolled through the flatter roads of France finding our fitness, our rhythm and an increasingly healthy appetite for evening wine. Before long, we had our routine: Dunners maintained the bikes, Coops made the next day’s sandwiches, Ash sorted the snacks and drinks, and Coops’ parents kept the whole operation moving from their motorhome.
Every evening, Mum had a home-cooked meal waiting and we’d sit around the table together while Dad revealed how far we’d be cycling the next day, having meticulously planned the route while we were on the road. That support became the heartbeat of the adventure.
Then came the German highlands. Temperatures dropped to -6 °C, with steep climbs and heavy blizzards making for some seriously tough days. Eventually we reached Austria, picked up the Danube and realised just how fit we’d become. 100-mile days started feeling strangely normal, culminating in Slovakia where we smashed through 100 miles in just 6.5 hours.
By the time we rolled into Budapest, we’d become a proper little travelling family. An adventure filled with brutal weather, huge days on the bike, ridiculous amounts of food, evening wine and memories that will stay with us forever. The ride made a significant contribution towards the £16,300 raised for the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust.