From Jules Daulby Assistant Head Teacher Yewstock SEN 26th June 2023

“The Wave experience was amazing. Every pupil got something out of the trip and loved it! Some highlights were seeing one of our pupils who uses a wheelchair surfing the waves - his face was an absolute picture and he said to me 'I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to top that.' I feel this is a challenge now - do you know any skydivers?! Another pupil first wasn't going to come, then she wasn't going to put on the wetsuit when we arrived. By the end she was grinning and laughing and asking if she could come again. This was a huge result for us and she is nervous and often struggles to cope with situations. The staff were brilliant. They were very comfortable with our pupils but challenged them to get out on their surf boards. It really was a magical experience to see our pupils surfing and laughing together. Thank you.”

Visit to the wave 23rd May 2023

Mountjoy School visit The Wave

Mountjoy School visited The Wave on Tuesday 23rd May, and here's what they had to say:

"Mountjoy School want to say a massive thank you to Phrenix for funding a surfing opportunity for our students. The challenges our young people face on a daily basis means that they are at much higher risk of experiencing mental health conditions. Being able to take them out for the day to experience 'The Wave' was amazing, the smiles on their faces showed us and anyone watching how much they got out of the session. For one student in particular just going off site is challenging but he spent the whole session in the water on his board having the time of his life, it was priceless. Phrenix are doing the most amazing job providing these opportunities for young people, allowing them to have positive experiences and supporting their mental wellbeing."

And what did the student who attended think of the experience? There's only one way to find out...

"I loved going to the wave because I kept falling in the water and falling off my board and laughing." Liam
"I loved doing it all and it was amazing. I would do it again." Neave
"It was a good experience because you got to learn how to surf." Kathryn
"My experience was fun entirely." Matty
"It was an amazing experience. The staff are very helpful." Phoebe
"I liked watching everyone surfing and splashing in the water." Archie
"The surfing was fantastic. I liked the instructors they gave good instructions." Josh
"It was good fun. I liked trying to stand up." Rhianna
"I liked surfing the big waves." Sebastian
"I liked catching the big waves. I could get on my knees and I didn't fall off once but I did crash into Sebastian." Jack

From Brad Rochfort, Surfers not Street Children

When I closed Josh's workshop there were about a dozen surfboards abondoned by a number of surfers for whatever reason. I was unable to reunite them with their owners. The boards were in need of repair. Brad who works with the charity "Surfers not Street Children" in South Africa arranged for the bords to be collected, repaired and eventually with another 200 or so boards sent out to South Africa. Josh was talking about this charity and would have been so happy with what happened with these forgotten boards.

I has so pleased to receive this update from Brad.

Here is a link to their charity>>>> https://www.surfnotstreets.org/

Opposite is a brilliant video from Brad about his charities work.

Keith.

Brad Rochfort

Tue, 31 Jan, 20:31 (4 days ago)to me Hi Keith
I hope all is well.
I just wanted to update you on those boards you donated to Surfers Not Street Children on behalf of Josh.
If I remember right, it was 11 boards I think? 9 are already in South Africa having been sent in a container last year with 200+ boards for the charity. Today I handed over the last two to Tom Hewitt, the charities founder. These 2 needed a lot of work and therefore missed the container. He will fly them over to Durban in a few weeks where they will join the other 9 to be enjoyed by many stoked children whose lives have been transformed through surfing.
Here is a link to the film we made about The Board Drive which included those boards…

Visit to the wave 8th June 2022

From Clive Padgett, Head Teacher of Yewstock Scool

"At Yewstock we take the mental health and well-being of our school community very seriously, we recognise that good mental health support for all is vital in ensuring that we provide the best teaching and learning for our students and help to prepare them for success when they leave Yewstock, and also give them the skills and resilience to make the best of opportunities in life. Thinking of others and caring for others is one of our Yewstock core values, so we were very pleased to be able to support the important work of Phrenix who do so much to help other achieve good mental health. Phrenix hosted us for a fabulous day at 'The Wave' in Bristol where our students experienced surfing for the first time, our young people had really brilliant time and we look forward to supporting the work of Phrenix in the future"

Click here for some photos of the day