{"id":33934,"date":"2023-08-18T17:28:27","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T16:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=33934"},"modified":"2026-03-10T17:16:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T17:16:46","slug":"accessible-surfing-has-been-lifechanging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/accessible-surfing-has-been-lifechanging\/","title":{"rendered":"Accessible surfing has been lifechanging"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For young disabled people like Ollie<\/strong>, having opportunities to get out and active without parental supervision can be hard. His mum, Fiona<\/strong>, knows that most twenty-somethings don\u2019t want to do everything with their family, but opportunities for fostering separate hobbies are few and far between.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The North Devon Down Syndrome Group, who find inclusive activities in the local area, collaborated with Sense to help a group of young people experience surfing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Ollie surfing in style with his thumbs up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m Fiona, Ollie\u2019s mum. My son has Down\u2019s syndrome, and he swims for the special Olympics. We\u2019re always looking out for new things to do, new sports to try, but there\u2019s not that much out there \u2013 or not near us in rural Devon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surfing stood out because it was something that I didn\u2019t need to be part of. It must be a bit boring for him having his mum follow him everywhere, but most of the time he doesn\u2019t have an option, really. It\u2019s only us at home so if I don\u2019t do it, he won\u2019t go anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As much as I want him to have a full life, I also want him to have a sense of freedom. It\u2019s hard to get the balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the water, they aren\u2019t treated differently<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With surfing, the idea that there were other people out there who could enable him and let him explore and be himself\u2026 that was the biggest benefit, it\u2019s so much more independent. And that\u2019s as well as all it offers him in terms of fitness and stamina. He loves it. And I know that he\u2019s safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wave Project<\/a>, who run the sessions, are just fantastic. Their volunteers, who are out on the water, are brilliant; you couldn\u2019t fault them. Ollie and the others aren\u2019t treated as though they\u2019re different or disabled, they\u2019re just allowed to get on with it and enjoy themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Ollie high fives a member of The Wave Project crew as he surfs by.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ollie isn\u2019t very verbal, but he does express himself and communicate. He uses a few Makaton signs, and he\u2019ll show you things to get you to understand. When he\u2019s out of the waves though, there\u2019s so many sounds and such distance between people that verbal communication goes out the window anyway. It\u2019s all just clapping and cheering, there\u2019s so much excitement. Just look at the photographs and you\u2019ll see the joy on their faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the first thing that\u2019s completely his<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since the surfing, he is so much more confident in himself. It\u2019s the first thing he\u2019s really enjoyed that\u2019s completely his, that doesn\u2019t involve me. It\u2019s increased his confidence in his abilities; he’s more comfortable talking to new people, he’s become more proactive, and he’s embracing a lifestyle more appropriate for his age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s small things that I notice, but they point to a big internal change. Like taking the dogs for a walk on his own, that never would have happened before. It\u2019s a walk that I can see from the house, so I know he is safe, but for him that\u2019s a big step into an independent routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s life changing \u2013 which sounds dramatic, doesn\u2019t it? But it is. It\u2019s given Ollie a completely different outlook on life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Two surfers glide in on the smooth sea in North Devon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I wish there was more out there<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If Ollie had his way, he\u2019d surf all year round. When the sessions end, we don\u2019t go to that beach so that he doesn\u2019t think we\u2019re going surfing. He grumbles when the sessions are over, but he knows that he can\u2019t go all the time because there are other people who need those opportunities too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to be honest, if it weren\u2019t for Sense, the cost would be prohibitive. Anything accessible is expensive. The moment you say disability things double in price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking part would usually cost over one hundred pounds, but as Sense funded our sessions, we only needed to make a small contribution. Sense and the North Devon Down Syndrome Group have made the experience accessible to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s so important that Ollie and the others in the group get to experience the freedom to be themselves, and to be part of a team where they feel equal. I wish there was more out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"A
All the North Devon Down Syndrome Group surfers 2023!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Our Active team, currently funded by Sport England<\/a>, support anyone who is deafblind or has complex needs to lead active lives – however they want to!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’ve been inspired by Ollie, visit our activity finder<\/a> to discover local opportunities from sensory walks to sensory tennis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternatively contact sense.active@sense.org.uk<\/a> for more support.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since Ollie started surfing, he’s been so much more confident in himself. It\u2019s the first thing he\u2019s really enjoyed that\u2019s completely his, that doesn\u2019t involve me. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":33935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"display_author":[181],"class_list":["post-33934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","display_author-fiona"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33934"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=33934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}