Three courageous women in Machynlleth who pledged to swim outdoors every day in January to raise money for Crisis, the national charity for homeless people, have smashed their fundraising target.

Em Appleton, Mim Davies and Judith Thornton, who are collectively known as the Mach Dippers, took the plunge every day in January hoping to raise £2,500, but their efforts have brought in a brilliant £3,553.25.

“Lots of people make pledges to do something in January, but this one has been more extreme than I was expecting,” said Mim.

The trio set up a JustGiving page for people to donate and invited the public to join them in a dip last Wednesday for a sunset swim in the River Dyfi by the Millennium Bridge.

Jo Leonard, Wales fundraising manager at Crisis, is delighted by the trio’s efforts.

“It’s absolutely fantastic that Em, Mim and Judith have chosen to support Crisis as part of their impressive fundraising challenge,” she said.

“Every year, we support thousands of vulnerable people by providing services to help them leave homelessness behind for good and campaign for the changes needed to make it a thing of the past. This is only made possible through the generosity and hard work of our supporters so our thanks go to these intrepid Welsh wild swim women.”