Coming from a background in traditional tattooing, I was interested from my third year in the healing power tattoos have, and so started specialising in scar tissue.

Back in 2016 I was first asked to do a nipple tattoo, I didn’t know this was a thing at the time, so I spoke to my auntie about it as she had had a mastectomy due to breast cancer. She told me a devastating story of her experience of having a poorly done hospital nipple tattoo after breast cancer mastectomy surgery that bled heavily, scabbed up and fell away and left her unable to look at her reconstructed breast for ten years!

Obviously shocked, I looked into this further and found that semi-permanent nipple tattoos are commonplace in all hospitals. The thought of such an important tattoo fading away seemed so bizarre to me. So, I sought out training for a more permanent option, I found an artist in the USA offering training for 3D realistic nipple tattoos and scraped my savings together and travelled over on my own to learn this advanced skill.

After coming back and offering this service for free, the BBC featured me as the first to offer a 3D realistic, permanent option, I was inundated by requests from people needing this service. Offering this service for free wasn’t sustainable as a single, self-employed mother. I thought it would be great to have a charity that could offer a directory of specially trained artists to make this high quality service possible and also a pot of money to cover the costs for the artists, so we could still continue to offer these tattoos for free and make them more accessible to those who needed them.

And so, in 2018, the U.K’s first mastectomy tattoo charity - The Nipple Innovation Project was established, and after two years of hard work, gained charity status in 2020.

It’s been hard work for the last six years leading the way in this field, the charity is working hard to educate on the importance of this service. The service has previously been considered as cosmetic, and through our research we have been demonstrating the need for a high quality service to ensure people feel mentally and physically confident in their bodies after such invasive treatment. NIP has made history by being the first charity of its kind in the UK to partner with NHS trusts to take over the service.

Cold water therapy is something that I have used as a natural solution to help ease some of my own personal medical symptoms. Being in the cold water truly helps me connect with my body, to breathe and be present. It’s something that I have personally been using, and when we were planning our fundraising campaign for 2023, we were looking for something that was accessible to all and wasn’t too physically exerting. As a charity, we recognise that we are one of the last physical treatments in a breast cancer patient's journey, and we want to provide a holistic start to life after cancer, and this challenge introduces people to one beautifully natural way to reconnect with their body. 

Community is what NIP is all about, the breast cancer community, the tattoo community and our local communities. Last year a small group of our Dip4Nip participants came together to take on the challenge together with a wild swim. This year we want to go even bigger and introduce even more people to cold water therapy.

Alex came to the charity a couple of years after she had finished treatment for breast cancer. She'd had the NHS tattoos which had faded, and her body image was suffering hugely. Once she'd had the tattoo from us, she credits that with being the start of her recovery journey and falling back in love with her body again. Part of that became striving to take care of it and to really nurture it. She knew that cold water therapy was hugely beneficial both mentally and physically, and had done a Wim Hoff course with Root2Rise, but she'd struggled to then implement it herself into her daily routine. Becoming part of the Dip4Nip crew gave her the group support needed to start doing wild swims, she then got involved in our ice bath challenge and has never looked back. It's changed her whole approach to life, the confidence that she's gained from doing something that she previously thought she couldn't achieve, has allowed her to be braver in all aspects of her life, and actually strive to step out of her comfort zone on a frequent basis.

There’s the obvious raising awareness and fundraising so that we can continue to provide this service to more people across the UK. Aside from that, this challenge allows us to introduce people to cold water therapy, and what we’re seeing is that people are getting connected to their local community! 

It’s a busy time for NIP! Aside from the Dip4Nip fundraiser during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, Lucy is speaking about the importance of this work at the TedxNHS talk this September. NIP is continually growing and adding more talented, high quality artists to their directory. Find out more about NiP Tattoos, sign up to be an artist, and learn how you can support the charity and Dip4Nip below!

Join us every Saturday at 10am at the Fittie end of Aberdeen beach for invigorating dips in the sea. The refreshing waters will not only revitalize your body but also uplift your spirits, offering a perfect blend of mental clarity and physical well-being.

For updates on volunteering at beach cleans, joining adventure days, and other upcoming events please see our social media pages.