Derry social media star Serena Terry has hailed a new cold water dipping club she set up as being a huge hit with the general public.
Serena, aka Mammy Banter, has over 919,000 followers and 26 million likes on TikTok.
Earlier this year, Serena opened up about her own mental health struggles through the false screen of social media.
She wanted to give back and help others to try and break the stigma that is associated with mental health.
Serena wanted to bring people together to kick off the new year in a special and positive way by establishing Waves, a cold water swimming group.
Serena, who is set to release a new book next month, told MyDerry how "overwhelmingly popular" her newest venture had proved to be.
"It's been amazing because it's giving so many people an activity that they can take part in for their mental health and benefit them in a social aspect," Serena said.
"It's alarming the many people that are actually taking part and it shows that a lot of people needed something for their mental health and there's no doubt that it's a pandemic that has resulted from the most recent pandemic that we've had to deal with, including the lockdowns."
She added: "There are literally hundreds and hundreds of people coming from across Northern Ireland and parts of Co Donegal.
"The benefits of this are scientifically proven because the ocean actually increases of serotonin and dopamine and that's the reason why people say that it's improving their mood.
"The change in people has been unbelievable as well," Serena told MyDerry.
"It's just incredible that we have people taking part now that have been inside for the last two years and now they have been able to go out and form new friendships and take part in something daily or weekly.
"This is a group of people who are all doing this for the same reason, to improve and maintain good mental health."
The TikTok sensation previously told MyDerry how she suffered with her own anxiety and how cold water dipping had changed her life.
She said: "I suffer from anxiety and all my research was leading towards cold water dipping.
"I documented my cold water dipping journey on the Mammy Banter Instagram and started to get hundreds of messages from people also wanting to try it out.
"I decided the most effective way to deal with the questions and queries about it was to set up Waves, a cold water dipping group."
Ms Terry is encouraging anyone who would like to take part "to just do it".
She added: "The adrenaline that you get from doing this is amazing, it's hard to explain and that's why I would encourage anyone thinking of doing this not to overthink about it and just get involved, just do it."
You can pre-order Serena's new book 'Mammy Banter: The Secret Life of an Uncool Mum' right now HERE.
