Costumes on for Halloween surfing session

Sunday 29 October 2017

Grab your tomb stone or broom stick and join Healing Waves - Ocean Therapy for a Halloween dress up swim or surf. The charity will be at Le Braye today between 11:00 and 13:00 to raise much needed funds for their surfing sessions as well as the RNLI.

Dom, Max and Seán recently had their last surfing session of the summer but they are not staying idle through the winter and are already busy organising next year's sessions.

Launched on 2 September, the boys at Healing Waves have delivered 18 sessions, helping 40 people, aged 5 to over 40 get in the water. They explain: "The guys and girls that we’ve delivered Healing Waves to have all come from different walks of life, some are living with neurological and physical conditions and/or disabilities. We’re yet to turn anyone down and we don’t plan to in future. Thanks to our carefully selected volunteers who help make our service what it is, we have been able to accommodate everyone who has reached out to us this season and we’ve loved every second of it.

Video: A snapshot of what the Healing Waves team get up to. (Slingshot Films)

"We’ve received lots of positive feedback from those who've taken part, as well as the public which has honestly been very touching and humbling. We’ve been very fortunate to have had such good swells for each of our sessions and even though the weather was not ideal for a couple of them, they have all run smoothly and most importantly safely."

With the weather, and the water, getting colder, they have had to put their surfboards away, but they are not left unoccupied. They are already planning next year's sessions and raising funds for them. Today, they are hosting ‘Waves Beyond the Grave,’ a Halloween Surf with the RNLI at Le Braye. People are encourage to dress up "spooky" and join for a dip or to catch some waves with the team to help raise awareness of the great work the RNLI deliver to Jersey’s beaches and learn more about Healing Waves.

Pictured: The team enjoy the waves at St Ouen.

The boys say: "As we are a charity who run on donations and do not charge for our service, we’ve held fundraisers through sponsored walks with The Inclusion Club, spread awareness and our awesome t-shirts at The Weekender Festival and most recently ran the Standard Chartered Jersey Marathon as a Relay Team. We have also been named as the charity for Rumble On the Rock at Fort Regent on 2 December." 

As for the surfing sessions, they will start again in May next year, when the RNLI are back on duty. Dom, Max and Seán are hoping to run sessions over long weekends at least once a month until October. They also have more plans for the winter and will post updates on their Facebook page, where people can contact them for more information about Healing Waves.