PLUCKY swimmers in Seaton Carew braved the North Sea at sunrise after a Middlesbrough man sent a challenge out to the world.

More than 1,000 people from 25 different countries signed up to run into the sea at the break of dawn as part of the Global Swim Rise initiative from the Human Excellence Project.

Paul Holliday, who moved to Perth in Western Australia 11-years-ago, set up the worldwide movement with friend Michael Henderson from Middlesbrough, as a way of coping with the grief of losing his beloved father to cancer.

The Northern Echo:

The Human Excellence Project founders Michael Henderson and Paul Holliday on the beach in Perth Australia

The aim of the sunrise swim is to raise awareness of mental health, give people a feeling of togetherness and to encourage those struggling with suicidal thoughts to seek help.

Rebecca Teasdale, a 32-year-old mother of two from Billingham, led the charge of people into the waters at Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, on Saturday morning.

She said: “It was cold at first but after a few seconds you just embrace it, it felt good.

“We ended up doing three separate dips as more people turned up.

"It was quite emotional actually, there was a great sense of togetherness and everyone felt like they had really achieved something.”