how the nudie Surf for Life program is changing young lives

Surf for Life is such an amazing program, tell us a little bit more about what you do each day.

“Surf for Life aims to give disadvantaged youth and people with a disability across Australia the opportunity to participate in surf programs. It’s a national program, which means we run in every state in the country. This has allowed us to see and interact with tens of thousands of kids over the last few years. It’s been really great.”

Why is this program so important – particularly for younger kids?

“A lot of the time the kids we see tend to have had hard childhoods filled with a lot of stress, so giving them the opportunity to get away and escape to the beach is a wonderful distraction. It allows them to build confidence by doing something new within a really heavily supportive environment, while also building social skills in meeting people with similar backgrounds or lives. It’s all of those reasons and more. It’s giving them the opportunity to escape in the ocean.”

Do you feel like the Surf Therapy Program is unique and effective in what it has to offer?

“A lot of the time the kids we see tend to have had hard childhoods filled with a lot of stress, so giving them the opportunity to get away and escape to the beach is a wonderful distraction. It allows them to build confidence by doing something new within a really heavily supportive environment, while also building social skills in meeting people with similar backgrounds or lives. It’s all of those reasons and more. It’s giving them the opportunity to escape in the ocean.”

What is it about surfing that seems to ground people?

“Connection to nature is a huge one for a lot of surfers. It’s about being really present and at one with nature in the water. When you go for a swim or you are in the ocean, it is all encompassing. There’s something really in that… Learning something new is great too and focusing your energy on something exciting is impactful. Surfing is also just a pretty cool sport to be part of.”

“Definitely! It’s year-round for most schools, and they have equipment to help out with the cold. If you’re going north of the Gold Coast or from the Gold Coast up, you can generally swim and surf most of the year without a wetsuit.”

What does the impact of the financial contributions made to the program by donors like nudie look like?

“So far nudie’s contribution has been used as funding to target kids in Northern Queensland. The money provides the lessons themselves. We have all the equipment – but the initial cost is to cover the participant cost and generally nudie also provide lots of juice to our participants.”

To find out more about nudie’s Surf for Life Program, head to surfforlife.com.au.