Right to Swim – and Right to Roam – is becoming an unstoppable movement, and the last weekend in April is a key date to get out there and call for more places to swim. Here’s what is happening at Kinder and around the country in 2025. Read on for more information on attending and getting things started with other swimmers in your local waters.
This year marks the 93rd anniversary of the Kinder Trespass, when hundreds of local walkers challenged their exclusion from the countryside with a mass trespass at Kinder Scout in the Peak District. The event grabbed headlines and kickstarted a campaign to improve access to land for recreation and enjoyment.
But what do we want now? More of it. More free access to nature, and explicitly, water. A wider right to swim. Access to nature is unequal across England, and The Outdoor Swimming Society is one of a wide range of groups calling for explicit rights of responsible access to land and water – see our Right to Swim Manifesto for how that could work. Crucially, we want free access to water – open water lakes and private swimming ponds have their place, but we should no more have to pay to go for a swim than go for a walk.
Access to nature is still unequal across England, but we believe that swimming should be available to everyone, everywhere. In 2003, Scottish swimmers gained unchallenged access to 800 reservoirs overnight when the Land Reform (Scotland) Act created new rights of responsible public access. We would like to see the same thing happen in England and Wales.
During the last weekend of April everyone is invited to take part in a weekend of action. Swimming is now so popular that it is easy to commercialise and put behind fences and paygates. To maintain and gain a great right to swim free, the most important action we can all take is to go swimming. Here’s what’s happening, and more ideas on getting your own swim started.
The first Kinder Swim Trespass took place in 2021, and in 2024, became ‘Kinder Unbound’: twenty-plus small protests around the country.
Kinder Scout, home of the original protest, is near Hayfield in the Peak District.
Please note: the Kinder Swim Trespass is an informal event supported by a number of groups to advocate for the right to swim. It is not formally organised by the participating groups. Swimming takes place at the individual’s risk.
Swimmers need places inland to swim across the country and last year over 20 protests took place as swimmers took to their local lakes, reservoirs, gravel pits, quarries and rivers to call for better access (read about them in Right to Swim Nationwide 2024).
The OSS takes no responsibility for disobedient bathing on any day. Take responsibility for your own safety with our Swim Responsibility Statement, and always follow The Outdoor Swimmer’s Code. More practical information on having a local trespass swim.
No time to make? We have 100 of these Right to Swim placards to give away. To get yours, complete this form and you have one sent to your home or nearest alpkit store. The artwork is also freely available if you wish to print your own.
To give your swim a bigger impact, please share it with us on social media: #OutdoorSwimmingSociety #RightToSwim #Right2Roam #GoNicePlacesDoGoodThings #sharetheswimlove.
The Outdoor Swimming Society will be speaking to swimmers for a feature on the 2025 Kinder Unbound, so let us know what you get up to and look forward to reading all about a weekend of action.