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Go take a morning swim like these ladies. If you want even more of a buzz, keep doing it through winter. And if you want even more of a buzz, raise some for money for charity while you're doing it.
The ladies are part of a group called Hamilton Aquatic and Movement Sisters [also known by the jocular acronym HAMS], which involves 14 community-minded women from Newcastle who are doing their bit to make life better for others.
Peta Diercke joined the group in winter.
"That's when they told me you get this amazing buzz when you've been in the water and it's freezing cold. I'm like 'really'?" Peta said.
"I know there's therapeutic benefits of the ocean and cold water, but I think it's also the friendship and doing things together and that kind of solidarity stuff as well.
"That feeling of supporting a worthy cause gives you benefits in your own self esteem and self worth because you're doing something valuable for the community."
The women have been swimming laps in a 30-day challenge to raise funds for the Starlight Foundation, which is known for granting wishes to sick children.
The group has raised almost $24,000 for the Starlight Super Swim. It's the second highest fundraising group effort in Australia for this cause.
The women have been pushing themselves for the kids, swimming more than they usually do. They've swum more than 223 kilometres collectively and raised about $24,000. They'd love to get to $25,000.
"Two of our team members are a mother and daughter. The daughter is a previous recipient of a Starlight Foundation wish, when she was diagnosed with leukaemia 10 years ago," Peta said.
"She is now 15 and has been swimming with us. She swam over eight kilometres and raised $1400. Her mother mentioned that the Starlight captains helped her get through all the hospital stays and helped her to forget about the needles and operations."
Visit superswim.com.au and find the group through the "sponsor someone" link.
Frayed To Return
The second season of Frayed was being filmed in Stockton on Wednesday.
The first season of the dark comedy prompted a contrasting reaction from the Newcastle public. Some thought it was brilliant, others didn't see the funny side.
Sarah Kendall, who grew up in Merewether, is the creator and writer of Frayed. She also plays the main character, Sammy Cooper. Set in 1989, the first season followed the journey of a wealthy London housewife who was forced to return home to Newcastle when her husband died in a drug-fuelled mishap with a prostitute.
In the second season, she's back in London living in a tiny flat and frantically trying to prove that her lawyer stole her house. Sarah said she was "grateful for this opportunity to bring back a lot of these frankly appalling characters".
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