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wavesforchange

@wavesforchange

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🏄‍♂️ Est 2011 in 🇿🇦
🧠 Evidence-based mental wellness tools via #surftherapy
🏆Serving 2,800 children each year, across 5 Surf Therapy beach centres. 🇿🇦

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We broke beyond the beach. 2025 Annual Report 🌊

13,000+ kids who found their footing. Since 2011. 15 years of Surf Therapy.

In 2025, we scaled it: Take 5 is now reaching 96,000+ children across 14 countries.

Same coaches. Same trust. Same evidence. Just further than the shoreline.

Read our 2025 Annual Report here https://ow.ly/Cxyj50ZIKoq

Thank you for being part of the journey.

Simunye. Sisonke. by @wavesforchange

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a month ago

What started as a few surfboards on a beach became a movement to make mental well-being support accessible to thousands of young people.

Watch the full W4C segment in David Blough's documentary XXI – The Sport of Solutions on our YouTube page.

#SurfTherapy #Neuroplasticity #MentalHealthAwareness #SecondChances #YoureRightOnTime #ChildrensMentalHealth by @wavesforchange

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a year ago

Adolescents in South Africa are under pressure.

More than 50% of 15–18-year-olds show elevated symptoms of depression, and over 30% of 10–14-year-olds are affected too.

In communities facing multi-dimensional poverty, these challenges are often intensified by stress, instability, and limited access to care.

But there is hope.

Adolescence is a second window of growth. A time when the brain is still flexible, and early interventions can change the trajectory of a young person’s life.

Surf Therapy is one of those interventions. It blends the healing power of the ocean with the evidence-based Take 5 Model, creating safe, youth-led spaces where adolescents can manage stress, regulate emotions, and build connection.

You’re right on time to help young people thrive.

#SurfTherapy #Neuroplasticity #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthmonth #secondchances #yourerightontime #childrensmentalhealth by @wavesforchange

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a year ago

Mami Wata x Globe.

Coming soon.

#afrosurfskate
@globebrand
@globebrand_skateboarding

‘Magwala’ by @bcuc by @wavesforchange

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2 days ago

Sport has an incredible ability to heal and help us believe in ourselves.

Filled with positive vibrations and gratitude for the powerful work done by one of my favorite clients @wavesforchange

It was such a pleasure to document the immersion workshop on Mental Health Awareness day with them this past Saturday. It’s amazing to see how this organisation has grown and is spreading right across Africa and the methodology adopted by other sports beyond surfing.

My own challenges with mental health have taken me on quite some journey. The work of a photojournalist covering war and some of the hardest issues day in day out for decades takes a toll. I am grateful now to have healed, placing me in a much better space having worked thru a lot. I am happy to be in a place able to help others and stoked to share our resilience courses for photojournalists with @instathrivelife, which will be launching soon. There has been precious little to help, inform, debrief and guide photojournalists, and there is a stigma, in fact, for anyone who puts their hand up and says, “I’m not okay.” Newsrooms need to learn and adapt. Editors need to take responsibility. Journalists need help with the work so many do without knowing what affect it may have on their mental health and how to cope.

It’s Mental Health Awareness Month and i salute the work done by @wavesforchange @instathrivelife and so many other organisations doing incredible work in this space.

One powerful element for healing is connection. Connection to self, connection to others, connection with life and who you really are. BEING beyond the narritives of the mind and being present each moment in life.

If you’re not feeling well please speak up and reach out. There are so many all around that can help. Dont bottle it up. Call me if you need to talk.

You are not alone. We are one.

#surfing #mentalhealth #sport

📷© @nicbothma / @matrix.images
@sonyalphasa @cottonongroup_africa @cottonon taken in Cape Town, South Africa by @wavesforchange

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3 days ago

We had the privilege of welcoming three alumni coaches from @wavesforchange , @buja269 @tamia_namiii and @bhuti_mdlane who guided our students through the foundations of surfing, from reading ocean conditions to board skills, wave riding and sharing the lineup.

Beyond the technical skills, there was so much to take in, building confidence, showing up for one another, learning through experience and making space for joy. Even with the waves a little choppy, our crew embraced the conditions and made the most of every moment.

A special thank you to the @wavesforchange for coaches for sharing their knowledge and to @reefshopsa in Muizenberg for supporting us with the equipment that made these sessions possible.

#oceanhubcapetown #surfing #waterskills #peersupport #youthdevelopmentprogram taken in Muizenberg Beach by @wavesforchange

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4 days ago

Reaching more children only matters if every child is still heard. 🌊

Our Monitoring, Research & Learning Officer, Azola Sibonda, took the virtual stage at the International Surf Therapy Organisations Changing The Tides Annual Global Conference with “Data That Talks Back,” showing how youth voices and lived experiences turn data into real change.

🎧 Listen to the recording above and hear firsthand what happens when data carries the voices of what young people need.

#WavesForChange #DataThatTalksBack #SurfTherapy #MentalHealth #InternationalSurfTherapyOrganisation #SafeSpaces by @wavesforchange

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4 days ago

Immersion. Connection. Belonging. 💙
On 10 October, we celebrated our annual Immersion event on Muizenberg Beach, bringing young people and our community together to experience the power of surf therapy firsthand.

Immersion is about more than getting into the ocean, it is one of the first activities in our Surf Therapy curriculum designed to help children and adolescents build trust, confidence and a sense of safety and community.

💚 This World Mental Health Day, we recognise the importance of listening to young people and honouring their lived experiences. This year’s theme, “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change,” reminds us that every voice matters and that connection can be a powerful part of supporting mental well-being.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make this annual immersion meaningful. 💙

🌊 Let’s keep showing up, listening and creating spaces where mental well-being can thrive.

📸 : @nicbothma

#WorldMentalHealthDay #Immersion #SurfTherapy #MentalHealthMatters #LivedExperiences by @wavesforchange

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6 days ago

Before the breaking point, there’s a moment of connection. 💙

A circle. A conversation. A coach who creates a space where young people feel seen, heard and supported.

With fewer than 10% of children in low- and middle-income countries able to access mental health treatment, safe, connected spaces matter.

Coaches play an important role in creating those spaces, listening without judgement, building trust, noticing when something feels different, and helping young people feel supported before challenges reach a crisis point.

#BeforeTheBreakingPoint #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth #WavesForChange by @wavesforchange

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9 days ago

Some hills are worth the fight. This one’s for mental health. 🌊

On Saturday 31 October we’re teaming up with @wavesforchange for a 3 hour loop challenge in Muizenberg. Teams of up to four, a 3km loop, and as many laps as your legs can handle. Tag in, tag out, cheer like mad. 💃

Before the day, get your mates, family and colleagues to sponsor your team, either per loop or with a once-off donation. Every cent goes to Waves for Change and their surf therapy programmes. 🏄

Prizes for the most loops on the day and for the most money raised. Not keen to run? Come hang out, refuel and connect at the recharge station.

Grab your crew and sign up via the link in bio. All paces, all welcome. 💚 by @wavesforchange

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10 days ago

Sometimes prevention looks like this. 🌊

Laughter. Play. New friendships. A moment of feeling seen.

💚 Mental health support doesn't start in a crisis. It starts with connection.
That's why we're creating spaces where young people can simply be themselves, long before the breaking point.

#BeforeTheBreakingPoint #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth #WavesForChange by @wavesforchange

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11 days ago

🌊 BEFORE THE BREAKING POINT
Prevent the Crisis Before It Starts.
📍 10 October | Muizenberg Beach

This Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re championing lived experiences, safe spaces, positive peer support, and the power of connection.

At Waves for Change, we use surfing, sport, play-based activities and trusted relationships to build resilience, belonging and hope for children and young people, helping create the conditions for wellbeing before a mental health crisis takes hold.

Immersion is one of the first activities in Waves for Change’s Surf Therapy curriculum. Introducing children and adolescents, some of them for the first time to the ocean, this activity is designed to build trust and confidence between peers, while the physical act of entering the ocean hand-in-hand embeds a sense of safety and community.

And when the programme wraps, stay for a FREE SURF! 🌊
Bring your friends. Bring your family. Bring your board, or simply bring yourself.

Let’s get together, get in the ocean, create safe spaces and be part of a movement that believes in preventing the crisis before it starts.

📍 10 October | Muizenberg Beach

Together. Simunye. Sisonke. 💙🌊

#BeforeBreakingPoint #WavesForChange #WorldMentalHealthDay #PreventTheCrisis #SurfTherapy #SafeSpaces #PowerOfPlay #MentalHealthAwareness #Simunye #Sisonke by @wavesforchange

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17 days ago