SURFERS’ MARATHON ROAD TRIP TO SUPPORT TSUNAMI VICTIMS

Next weekend will see surfers up and down the country take part in a massive “surfathon” in the run up to national Surf Relief Day on April 9th.

The aim of the Tsunami Surfabout is to raise money for Tsunami Surf Relief UK (TSRUK) which is targeting much needed funds to support long term regeneration projects in surf destinations devastated by the Boxing Day tsunami.

Although emergency relief has provided most villages with water, food and basic medical supplies, to this day little help has reached some coastal destinations because of the very remoteness which has attracted adventurous travellers for the last thirty years. TSRUK funds will be directed primarily at rebuilding homes for the communities devastated by the disaster and will use digital technology to encourage communication between donors and the families they are helping.

Surf Relief Day on April 9 th will be the main focus for fundraising but the official warm up has been a runaway success for organiser Jed Stone from Newquay: “My personal effort to raise funds for this cause was to get in my van, with my wife Lesley and son Andrew, get some sponsorship and start at the most northern surf spot in Cornwall, catching one wave before moving on to the next break, and so on… until hopefully we would end up at Sennen, near Land's End - all in the one day.

“Well, it has kind of moved on from that initial concept - sort of snowballed! We now have several tours around Britain and one in Portugal taking place on April 2nd. Every pound donated is going straight into the fund. All help has been voluntary - posters, tshirts, paper, printing, postage, vehicles, fuel and food have been donated free of charge.”

Dozens of tours will commence simultaneously at 9.00am on Saturday, united in their aim to take in as many surf breaks and raise as much sponsorship as possible. Around the coastline of Cornwall and Devon, the south coast from Plymouth to Bournemouth and Brighton, Wales, the North East and Scotland, surfers of all ages will brave water temperatures as low as 5 degrees to support the cause. Students of Treviglas Surf Academy will fare a little better as they complete their tour whilst on vacation in Portugal.

And it’s not just the amateurs who feel strongly about it - top UK surfers on board the lead bus on its route from Bude in north Cornwall to world famous Fistral Beach in Newquay will include Alan Stokes, Russell Mullins, Llewelyn Whittaker, Tom Pope and others competing on the WQS and BPSA tour. A strong contingent of female surfers will be led by Cornwall’s Sarah Bentley and supporters will be collecting donations at each destination as the convoy grows.

The lead party will be in contact with fundraisers UK-wide throughout the day and hopes to announce the amount raised at the event’s finale at Fistral Beach before presenting a cheque for the final amount to TSRUK a week later on Surf Relief Day.

The official Tsunami Surfabout after party is to be held at the new £3m Reef Surf Lodge in Newquay.

Jed Stone sums up the excitement this unique event has generated in the surfing community when he says: “Imagine... 9.00am, April 2nd and all around our coastline groups of surfers are joining together and setting out for a single cause... now wouldn't that make you feel stoked.”