Our Impact and Research

Surf Therapy is a pioneering model of mental health support, and it’s still in motion. Here’s what we’ve built, how we’re testing it, what we’ve found, and where it goes next.

The Wave Project began in 2010 as an NHS pilot on a Cornish beach. Today, across 15 hubs and 22 sites, from Portrush and Dunbar to Scarborough and West Penwith, young people referred by a professional join a six-week Surf Therapy course, then Surf Club, and many go on to volunteer as Surf Mentors. 

Community sits at the heart of everything we do. In physically and emotionally safe spaces, three conditions for change come together: time in blue space, a trusted one-to-one mentor, and the movement and challenge of surfing at each young person’s own pace (Marshall, Kelly & Niven, 2019). 

Our BLUEprint protects these conditions and lets everything else adapt, from beaches to inland wave pools to Adaptive Surfing. 

To find out more, please get in touch with Research and Impact Manager, Tim Trythall via timt@waveproject.co.uk

That learning needs evidence, so research sits at the centre of how we work, with a growing ecosystem of university partners. Our yearly evaluation, Impact Beyond the Surf 2025, followed 365 young people across 16 hubs, average age 12. Over six weeks, their wellbeing rose by 18.8% on the WHO-5 (Topp et al., 2015), a large change in research terms, and 84% improved or held steady. Young people also felt closer to other people, rising from 3.68 to 4.48 on a the IOS scale, and closest of all to their mentors. There was no comparison group, and we only have scores for those who finished, so we’re widening the lens: post-course indicators, new research collaborations, and impact beyond individual wellbeing. 

Our newest report, Wellbeing from Coast to Inland (2026), found every outcome improved at the beach and at inland wave pools (The Wave, Bristol; Lost Shore, Edinburgh). 

Still to come: a thematic review of young people’s and parents’ feedback, Dr Marshall’s long-term study of Surf Club, and Dr Caitlin Higston’s thesis on Surf Therapy and our adaptive surfing.

Evidence only matters if it changes what happens in mental healthcare. We use young people’s voices to improve our programmes through human-centred design, and we’re building routes from clinical care into community support, including a new pathway for young people affected by cancer with the Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire Cancer Alliance. 

The timing matters. In England, the NHS 10 Year Health Plan shifts care from hospital to community and from sickness to prevention, while Youth Matters, shaped by over 14,000 young people, promises mental health support closer to home. We believe the voluntary and community sector belongs at the heart of that shift. If you refer young people, commission services or research this field, we’d like to build the next part with you.