Stance Supports Trip of a Lifetime for South Africa’s Surfers Not Street Children Charity
From South Africa to the freezing sea of Thurso East, Stance has supported the trip of a lifetime for 3 ambassadors and the founder of Surfers Not Street Children, to inspire more children in South Africa and Mozambique to take up surfing.
Surfers Not Street Children is a charity that uses surfing, mentorship and care to intervene in the lives of children living on the street in South Africa and Mozambique. Founded by Tom Hewitt MBE, the Organisation has dedicated local teams that include social workers, carers, lifeguards, surf coaches and administrators.
By participating in one of the charities’ 3 core programmes, one in Durban, Mozambique and a dedicated girls programme called ‘Girls Surf Too’, over 3000 street children have been supported and mentored in transforming their lives. Some have gone from street children to becoming coffee baristas, lifesavers, surf shop staff, restauranteurs, surf coaches and even pro surfers.
Almost all of the children in the programme have never travelled beyond their local townships or small villages in which they live, which is why after 5 years of support, Stance decided that this year, they’d do something different.
It is a charity that is close to Stance’s hearts and they believe that no child should ever be involved with or exposed to homelessness or street life. So, inspired by Mariann Wright Edelman (the famous American activist) and her popular quote “You can’t be what you can’t see”, Stance invited the founder of Surfers Not Street Children, Tom Hewitt and three of the community ambassadors out to the UK for a cold water surf trip (whilst Storm Barra battered the UK no less) that would push their boundaries well beyond the shorelines of South Africa.
The trip would give the team an experience that would not only last them a lifetime but also inspire thousands of street children back home to turn from street life to surf life.
Check out the full journey from the warm waves of South Africa to the icy chills of Northern Scotland in the link below.
