LNER award us £30,000 to expand life-changing surf therapy programme
We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded £30,000 from London North Eastern Railway (LNER) to deliver our award-winning surf therapy programme to 100 vulnerable young people in Tynemouth and Dunbar throughout 2022.
The funding will be used to continue its project in Tynemouth, commencing in late Spring, and follows a successful pilot project that saw 60 vulnerable young people from the local area complete an initial course of surf therapy.
The funding will also be used to allow us to continue to run our project in Belhaven Bay, Dunbar, on the East Coast of Scotland, from May 2022.
Young people aged 8 to 18 who are referred to us will have the opportunity to participate in a specialised surf therapy session once a week for six weeks.
Each young person is paired with a volunteer surf mentor and receives one-to-one support appropriate to their needs for the duration of the course, with the aim of building confidence, self-esteem and resilience.
We are now seeking a Project Coordinator to head up the North East project and welcomes applications from experienced individuals. The role will involve working with local referral partners, volunteers, families and the wider community to deliver a safe, sustainable surf therapy programme within the new project area.
LNER’s annual £500,000 Customer and Community Investment Fund (CCIF) supports charities, its customers and the communities along its route, which runs from London King’s Cross to Inverness and Aberdeen. The core themes the fund supports are mental health, education and employability skills amongst marginalised groups, diversity and inclusion, and environmental sustainability.
Siobhan Swift, Surf Therapy Manager (North), The Wave Project, said:
“We’re delighted to have received this generous grant from LNER’s Customer and Community Investment Fund to provide our critical surf therapy intervention to young people at risk of mental ill health in Tynemouth and Dunbar. This vital funding will allow us to ensure vulnerable young people in these areas have the opportunity to experience our life-changing surf therapy, which helps them to build confidence and self-esteem, develop resilience, and make new friends.”
David Horne – Managing Director, London North Eastern Railway, said:
“We are proud to support The Wave Project in this new round of LNER Customer and Community Investment funding, helping the project to make a difference to young people’s lives. Our communities along the East Coast route are very important to us. We continue to support many great charities and groups through our Customer and Community Investment Fund as part of LNER’s commitment to being a responsible business and it is fantastic to see just what a difference this funding can make.”
In 2021, we supported 1,114 young people across the UK through a free surf therapy programme. Results from pre and post surveys found that children who participated saw significant increases in self-esteem, resilience and confidence. Parents noticed an improvement in their children’s mood and outlook, while the professionals who referred, such as teachers and GPs, noticed children were more active, sociable and positive about the future.
For more information about the Project Coordinator position in the North East, please visit https://www.waveproject.co.uk/jobs/