An Ocean for Everyone
Surf Therapy supports children from stressed environments to develop meaningful social connections, experience respite from difficult thoughts or feelings, and adopt healthy behaviours to cope with stress.
An International Network for Community Based Mental Health
The Wave Alliance is a network of change-makers and community based organisations operating on coastlines where mental health services are under-resourced. Waves for Change provides training and support that helps members design, launch and evaluate their own surf therapy intervention.
Who is this for?
The world is full of passionate people and impactful community-based organisations. By uniting, we can grow access to Surf Therapy and contribute to the fast-growing global evidence-base for surf therapy as a health intervention.
How Do You Get Involved?
If you would like to introduce a sustainable Surf Therapy programme to your local community, join us! You don’t need to know how to surf to start – you just need to be passionate about community well-being and interested in changing lives, one wave at a time. Begin by filling in this survey, and we’ll get in touch!
Getting Started
If you’re interested in joining the Wave Alliance, below you’ll find the journey we’ll walk with you. It’s simple, all you need to do is get in touch.
Get in touch
Complete the survey and we will share our “Starter Pack Guide” with the first steps to building a surf therapy programme for your community.
Deliver local sessions
Using the Wave Alliance surf therapy curriculum, deliver 3 sessions to your local community and share your results with us.
Two Week Training
We’ll build a shared understanding of well-being and how we can design, deliver, and evaluate our pilot surf therapy programme.
Deliver and evaluate
We’ll provide you with a starter pack of surfing equipment and mentoring to design, deliver, evaluate and advocate for your Surf Therapy programme.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to be a surf school, surf programme, or surfer to join?
No! You and your (future) team do need to be willing to learn to surf though. We’ll help you learn and train others!
Does the Wave Alliance provide financial support?
We are not a funding body; we provide initial surf equipment (surfboards and rashvests), and support programme evaluation so you can raise funds and awareness yourself!
Do I need to be near the coast?
To deliver a surf programme, you need to have safe and relatively easy access to the ocean. Get in touch and we can help you decide if this is a feasible option for your community.
Will my participants become professional surfers?
Our focus is positive youth development and well-being, not performance. Surf schools and training camps are welcome to integrate the Wave Alliance into their work!
What do I need to do to deliver a surf therapy programme?
You need to be driven, community-led, and passionate about health. We will build your knowledge, support structured programme design and delivery, and increase your evidence!
Partner Evaluation Reports
You can share these surf therapy reports (below) far and wide, and stay tuned to their journeys on their social media.
Alto (Peru)
Download
Joy (Sierra Leone)
Download
MFT (Sierra Leone)
Download
Olas Del Alma (Argentina)
Download
Pipul Pikin (Sierra Leone)
Download
Shewana (South Africa)
Download
Siyasurfasana (South Africa)
Download
Small Steps (South Africa)
Download
United Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone)
Download
Waves for Hope (Trinidad)
Download
Young Leaders (Sierra Leone)
Download
Latest News
Mental health resources, updates on Surf Therapy, and exciting announcements.
