Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas now without the annual ‘ Swim for Shoes’ Charity Event at Armação de Pêra beach. Hosted by the wonderful Holiday Inn Algarve hotel, this event raises much needed funds for charity by asking people to come and have a swim – or even just dip a toe in the water on Christmas Day.

This year so far they have raised over €1000 for new shoes for children in care. The money will be divided between two charities; A Gaivota, Santa Casa in Albufeira and Espaço Amigos in Armação de Pêra. Each child at school needs a pair of trainers and plimsolls and the money will be used to buy shoes during the year for the teenagers. 

This year’s event was also supported by Events Organiser – Portugal4U and the Albufeira Surf Clube – who arrived by sea on paddle boards – dressed as Santa of course!

The weather was perfect On Christmas Day – 18 degrees of warm sunshine, blue skies and the calmest sea – perfect for a swim!

It was almost too much to hope for that the weather would hold for the second ‘Swim for Shoes’ event – same time, same place on New Year’s Day – but we were in luck! It was the same gorgeous weather and the perfect start to a New Year.

This time the requirement was for pyjamas to be worn – some people really went for it and came dressed for the occasion – others just came along to watch, but everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves!

There was certainly no hesitation in running down to the water to jump in!

The Albufeira Surf Clube were in force again and looked most impressive on their paddle boards

Let’s hope they make it an annual event in their calendar too!

Certificates were awarded to all those who got wet and everyone was invited back to the Holiday Inn Algarve bar afterwards for a hot chocolate.

Special thanks goes to Vicki Good at the hotel for all her hard work in organising and supporting this event.

You can click on any of the images below to start the slideshow of all the images from both the events – all images are © Dave Sheldrake Photography