UK residents are being encouraged to get naked this Saturday for an event dubbed The Great British Take Off 2020
The organisation British Naturism is organising the day of nudity to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
The fundraising event comes as British Naturism has reported a 100% increase in membership during the UK lockdown, with theories as to why including the fact that Brits staying at home are more likely to wear fewer (or no) clothes.
The organisation hopes that the Brits will strip off for the event, and will enjoy what they call a Pimms on the Lawn. This is the latest in a series of special events organised by British Naturism. The virtual events that have already taken place include naked yoga sessions, an online naked pub crawl, and the World Naked Gardening Day.
This news comes as the foreign secretary has announced that services such as hairdressers and barbers, as well as pubs and restaurants will not be opening in the UK until July at the earliest.
As the warm weather continues and those in the UK are spending more time in their gardens, the clothes are coming off. The commercial manager of British Naturism, Andrew Welch, believes that the sudden rise in membership numbers will only continue, even when the lockdown is relaxed.
The nudist organisation has reminded people that it is not illegal to strip naked in your garden, even if your property is in easy sight of your neighbours. They say that you can tell your neighbours that you’re planning to sunbathe or relax in the nude, but that this is not necessary as long as you are not intending to simply upset people.
Those planning to take part in the event can be sponsored to get their kit off, or can simply make a donation. With double the membership that they had at the start of April, Welch said:
“British Naturism is generally an establishment that is quite anti-establishment”
“If people like to take their clothes off in public, then maybe they don’t want to be part of a group.” He believes that once the lockdown is less strict that more new members will “start to take their nakedness outside, trying something new.”
A spokesman for British Naturism has said that the thrill of the skinny dip has always been appealing and that the quarantine and isolation have caused a dramatic uptake in the number of people who have decided to start living in the buff. A statement suggests,
“Human beings weren’t designed to be wrapped up in clothes 24/7 and yet that’s often how we are even when it’s more sensible not to be.”
The organisation highlights the health benefits and also recommends it as a good way to save yourself wasted time and money on doing the laundry.
The British Naturism organisation isn’t the only one getting nude. TV presenter Philip Scholfield stripped off to support World Naked Gardening Day, and BGT host Amada Holden has admitted that she enjoys trampolining while naked. The famous ‘Mansfield’s Naked Calendar Men’ also announced last Thursday that they would be producing another naked calendar to raise money for the NHS.
The NHS have been less overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases in the country, and the daily death rate seems to have dropped over the past week, with just 210 people dying from coronavirus-related reasons yesterday.