Waves For Change | #SurfTherapy - Waves For Change

Waves for Change – Changing Lives, One Wave At A Time

Newsletter

Sign up for the W4C Newsletter
Signup for our newsletter to get notified about Waves For Change updates and what our team us up to.

Waves for Change – Changing Lives, One Wave At A Time

SUPPORT

Physical Distancing without emotional isolation.

For many of us, our home is a space of safety and comfort. Children attending our programmes often find safety and comfort in spaces away from home. During this time children will not have access to school or surf therapy and are requested to self-isolate. Waves for Change recognises its duty of care to continue reaching those children with child-friendly mental health services.

join us

OUR MISSION

By fusing the rush of surfing with evidence-based mind/body therapy, W4C provides a child-friendly mental health service to vulnerable and differently-abled youth living in under-resourced communities. Through access to safe spaces, caring mentors, and a provision of weekly surf therapy sessions, W4C gives children skills to cope with stress, regulate behaviour, build healing relationships, and make positive life choices.

about us

Donate to W4C

Join the ride, help us change lives.

Follow updates on the Corona Virus (Covid-19) by visiting the South Africa Website for Corona Virus. Just click the button to take you straight to the website: www.sacoronavirus.co.za

ZigZag Subscription

ISTO_GC_Logo

Our Mission

W4C provides a child-friendly mental health service to at-risk youth living in unstable communities. Through access to safe spaces, caring mentors, and a provision of weekly Surf Therapy sessions, W4C gives children skills to cope with stress, regulate behaviour, build healing relationships, and make positive life choices.

follow us on social media

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to everyone who ma

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to everyone who made the @intlsurftherapyorg 2020 Symposium such a powerful safe space of learning and sharing, and such a joyous celebration of #surftherapy and all its potential to change the world, one wave at a time! We are beyond stoked to be part of this growing global family of passionate innovators committed to promoting access to vital health services in coastal communities, and can’t wait to see what the future holds for #surftherapy 🤙 💛 Stay tuned!

How are you looking after your mind this weekend?

How are you looking after your mind this weekend? Rest, physical activity, time with loved ones where we feel recognised and celebrated... all of these can help keep our minds healthy and strong!

Flashback to our recent #wavealliance training, where we explored the impacts of both stress, and activities which provide us much needed respite and relaxation, on our physical health and cognitive functions. We hope this weekend, you are able to give your brain and body a break, and find time for vital health restoration 💛

As we begin to wrap up our W4C year and reflect on

As we begin to wrap up our W4C year and reflect on 2020 - which has been so full of challenges and has required such resilience - we can only be thankful for our amazing #surftherapy mentors, who have not only risen to the challenge of adapting and delivering their service; they have inspired and motivated people far beyond the W4C families they serve and dug deep to increase their own knowledge and capacity as caring coaches, so they can return to their work in 2021 even stronger.

Thank you to each of our incredible coaches, and to everyone who has supported their journey through 2020!

#surftherapy #mentor #wellbeing

🧡 GOOD JUJU with @mikeyfebruary @zeltifebruary

🧡 GOOD JUJU with @mikeyfebruary @zeltifebruary and @slowtide 🧡

Have you joined @slowtide and the amazing @jujusurfclub in supporting #surftherapy in Africa? They currently have an epic campaign, proceeds from which go to sharing the stoke and supporting African #surftherapy programmes - and they are already 70% sold out! Be sure to not miss out and help them get to 100% by heading to @slowtide now!

📸 @taofarren

Bringing the energy like only #wavesforchange can!

Bringing the energy like only #wavesforchange can! 🔥

W4C #surftherapy mentors are recruited for their values, ability to create and sustain safe spaces, and their unique form of STOKE which includes everyone and transforms our beach sites into a space of fun, celebration, and positivity 🤙🤙🤙

Thank you to all of our coaches for always being so uniquely wonderful!

Here, W4C mentors welcome #surftherapy partners into their safe space the best way we can - with song and dance!

Join us in Making Waves! The International Surf

Join us in Making Waves!

The International Surf Therapy Organisation (ISTO) is excited to announce its inaugural virtual conference from December 1-2. The 2020 ISTO Symposium, "MAKING WAVES: Through Inclusion, Diversity, and Equality in the Lineups," is bringing together some of the biggest changemakers in the #surftherapy sector to discuss the past, present and most excitingly the future of this unique approach which uses surfing as a structured activity to promote psychological, physical, and psychosocial well-being.

Surf therapy organizations exist worldwide to serve vulnerable youth, veterans, people with disabilities, post-conflict settings, first-responders, individuals caught in addiction, homelessness, crime, and more! This year the annual conference is online, which means more of us can join from around the world. We are STOKED to have some of our own team, as well as some of our Wave Alliance partners, participating in panels. You definitely don't want to miss this, so head to ISTO to sign up!

#surftherapy #wellbeing #mentalhealth

Our last surf together (but only for now!) as we w

Our last surf together (but only for now!) as we wrap our third Wave Alliance workshop with our incredible new partners from Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa before they head home! We are so excited to be working alongside such passionate people as they change lives, one wave at a time! Be sure to stay tuned to their and our stories for updates on their #surftherapy journey ⚡️

Thank you @vimto for the beautiful kit for our family, who are heading home with hoodies, tees, and rashies for their teams 🤙

Thank you also to @surfemporium for supporting our visitors with wetsuits to use in the Cape Town waters while here 🌞 And @chartfieldguesthouse for our incredible home base for the last two weeks 💛

"I feel happy when I surf because it takes stress

"I feel happy when I surf because it takes stress from my mind." - #wavesforchange surfer in Liberia

@stokedresearch spent three months with the amazing children, community and #surftherapy mentors in Harper, Liberia, and we are so excited that his paper has just been published in The Journal of Sport for Development! Thank you to Jamie, our team and the local community, and JSFD for taking the time to explore and deepen our understanding of the power of community-owned, community-led #surftherapy.

You can read the full paper - with no paywalls - at https://bit.ly/3nzCucp 👊

We hope your week ahead is full of STOKE and the o

We hope your week ahead is full of STOKE and the opportunity to rise to new challenges with a smile on your face!

Head to our website for free well-being resources which can help you feel calm, focused, and connected to others 🤙

PIC: thanks to @timvanfilms!

Which of your memories make you feel best? Today,

Which of your memories make you feel best? Today, take five minutes to breathe deeply and reflect on your happy memories and how you felt in those moments. Think about those moments in detail: who were you with? What were you doing? How did your body feel? You can use these detailed memories to help you feel positive, hopeful, and strong whenever you need them!

You can find this and other well-being activities on our website 🤙

Have you read our HRV Learning Brief yet? We are

Have you read our HRV Learning Brief yet?

We are so excited to share our HRV study results with you! At W4C, we are deeply curious, and put children first. To do this, we need to do our best to understand their internal and external worlds. In partnership with The New School and Laureus, we embarked on a learning journey to deepen our understanding of our participants, our programme, how we monitor and evaluate, and how we can continue to change lives, one wave at a time!

Head to our website to read more about everything we learnt and our next steps 🤙

#surftherapy #wellbeing #mentalhealth #sportforgood

🌊 AN OCEAN FOR EVERYONE 🌊 We are so stoked

🌊 AN OCEAN FOR EVERYONE 🌊

We are so stoked that our third Wave Alliance training started today, with inspiring partners from Senegal, Kenya, and South Africa! We know #surftherapy works, and are so thrilled to be part of increasing access to this powerful service.

Each of these amazing programmes and individuals are exploring how they can integrate evidence-based #surftherapy programmes to promote #wellbeing in their communities and we are so excited to be on this journey with them! Between them there is a wealth of knowledge, experience, and passion which they are generously sharing with each other so that together, with our 11 other #wavealliance partners, we can provide community-led, community-focused essential #mentalhealth services to coastal communities around the world.

Stay tuned as we spend the next two weeks in Cape Town learning and practicing together before delivering pilot programmes for our local communities 🤙🤙🤙

#wavelliance #surftherapy #wellbeing

Follow on Instagram

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

Log in as an administrator and view the Instagram Feed settings page for more details.

This message is only visible to admins.

Problem displaying Facebook posts.
Click to show error

Error: An access token is required to request this resource.
Type: OAuthException

I Am the Engine’ is a Red Bull documentary series that portrays ten inventors and visionaries who are taking risks and overcoming failure to find solutions that benefit their communities. Waves for Change mentors Chemica and Lux are community-based mental-health practitioners, who are changing lives of youths in their communities through the power of surf therapy. Watch their story, and be inspired!

Up to 20% of young South Africans are effected by Post Traumatic Stress. Waves for Change is pioneering a winning formula of surfing and evidence based therapy programming to break the cycles of violence that keep South Africa’s youth from their true potential. Video by Florian Bison Photography – Winner Le Book Creative Award 2015