Target reached!
With the extra funding, we can make the space more inclusive / accessible, use bette...
Driftwood Mobile Sauna UK
Clevedon, England, United Kingdom
Aim
Building a mobile outdoor sauna for communities around North Somerset - Providing wood-fired warmth for the mind, body and soul.
Who are we?
Hi!
I'm Paul, A dad, teacher, runner, marine lake dipper and outdoor enthusiast based in Clevedon, North Somerset.
Along with a team of talented friends, family and local craftspeople, I am currently in the middle of converting a beautiful old horse box trailer into a Finnish-style wood-fired mobile sauna as a social enterprise for the BENEFIT of the COMMUNITY!
Pre - pay your sauna sessions so we can bring the benefits! ONLY 2 Days Remaining!!!
Why outdoor sauna?
In March 2020, days before COVID swept our isles, my incredible wife took me away for my birthday to Brighton Beach Box - a wood-fired sauna on Brighton Beach
After a two hour session of sauna, sea-dips, laughter and fireside warming our spirits were lifted and I was inspired. There and then I decided that we need our own restorative, cleansing and immune-boosting wood-fired outdoor sauna right here in North Somerset!
The after-glow and the obsession have stayed with me ever since...
Since that visit, the number of outdoor sauna across the UK has exploded - as featured in this Guardian Article and this Sunday Times Article.
(Image credit: Brighton Beach Box Spa)
Benefits of Sauna...
In a long term study, a group known as 'the Finnish Sauna cohort' monitored by Professor Jari Laukkannen of the University of Eastern Finland demonstrated that regular users of Sauna saw greatly improved outcomes in terms of heart health, dementia and 'all cause mortality', ie. dying of any disease - compared to those who did not use Sauna!
So far, from various studies - some of the generalised indicated benefits of sauna include:
- Improved cardiovascular health & reduced stroke risk
- Stress reduction & sleep improvement
- Reduced chronic / rheumatic pain
- Improved exercise performance & muscle recovery
- Improved outcomes / protection against: Respiratory diseases, dementia & alzheimers.
As Susanna Soberg mentions in her book - combining Sauna with a cold dip also combines the benefits of the heat with the increasingly well publicised benefits of cold water, leaving you with a lower average heart rate, improved continuous 'brown' fat burn, immune benefits, pain relief and an emotional re-set.
(Image credit: Saltwater Sauna)
How will we run?
We will run as a private social enterprise - returning any profits after essential running costs into local charities and environmental organisations, whilst also improving access and reducing entry point price.
When & Where?
1) Winter residencies from Autumn until Spring at one or more waterfront locations around North Somerset and Bristol...detail to be confirmed and agreed.
These regular weekly sessions will be timetabled and bookable on our website. They will include some weekend / midweek daytime sessions and possibly some sunrise / sunset / full moon specials!
Discussions are ongoing for a number of Rivers, Marine lakes, Leisure lakes, Beaches etc. Updates on confirmed locations will be posted on the instagram / Facebook pages, and on here as the Crowdfunder rolls!
2) 'Pop-up' sauna / Yoga / SUP events at local swim / beauty spots.
3) In the summer, we will bring the restorative heat to festivals too!
4) Private hire - We will be available - for Your driveway / garden / special events / swim competition / outdoor swim gala / community event / Launch party!
(Image credit: Sawna Bach - The scenic Sauna)
Safety:
Considerations have to be made in the winter for re-warming too quickly. I have been researching this project for over three years now and now have a good understanding of how to reduce any risks associated. Some basic principles include:
- Staff to be first aid trained with an emphasis on extreme temps - heat and cold.
- Swimmers who have been in cold water (sub 10 degrees ) to first properly acclimatise to the air temp, before entering the sauna and at first at a lower level (less initial heat).
- Creating lower temperature sessions designed especially to gently re-warm swimmers where demand is there.
The Sauna itself will be constructed and operated according to recommendations from the British Sauna Society and covered by public liability insurance.
The Environment:
The wood- burning stove will be a brand new, ultra efficient Finnish stove made by IKI which complies with the latest regulations on wood burning emissions in the UK.
Why crowdfund / Lets make this happen!
I'm Crowdfunding because:
- I'm halfway with the build and I want to make it the best it can be, and get finished before the end of the season.
- I want to start this lovely local resource debt free to keep the cost of entry low. If you pre-pay for sauna sessions now - your money pays for the build and you get your discounted sauna time...win win!
- Crowdfunding can also a great way to spread the word about the project...and the immune boosting, health enhancing power of the HEAT!
If you would like to be a part of our journey, please either:
1) DONATE what you can. Whatever you can afford to get this Mobile thing rolling will be ACE...thank you.
2) OR: take a choose an option you fancy, from products made by local companies to Pre-booked seats on the Sauna Bench! Look through the 'Rewards' along the right hand side of this page and choose !
for example:
£20 pays for a single length of high quality thermowood cladding for the interior...so a few of these needed!
£100 will buy the leisure battery to run the twinkly lighting and the motorised positioning wheel.
£250 Gets us solar panels to charge the battery for the lights / motorised jockey wheel.
£500 Covers the costs of the specialist sauna insulation
£1000+ buys us the ultra efficient IKI sauna stove, made in Finland!
ANYTHING is appreciated!
Other ways you can help.
If you’re not able to contribute but like what I’m doing, spread the word!
Share the story on Instagram (@driftwood_mobile_sauna_uk) and Facebook, WhatsApp the project to your friends, email it to your colleagues and talk about it to your family!
Thank you...for reading this far! SHOW YOUR SUPPORT and SIGN UP to updates direct to your inbox by completing this form and adding your email address at the end!
We hope to see you in the WARM soon!
(Pictured - design inspiration - Gather Sauna House's mobile unit in Bend, Oregan.)
This project successfully funded on 1st April 2024