St Austell Brewery donates adaptive surf wheelchair to Bude charity

AdSurf, based in Bude, provides accessible adaptive surf lessons and surfing experiences for people with disabilities, neurodiversities and mental health conditions.

The charity, which was set up in 2022 and has since seen a huge demand for its services, approached our Charitable Trust to help with funding some of the vital equipment they needed, to help people take to the water. 

Our Charitable Trust has been running since 2003 and, during that time, has raised over £1 million for local charities and important causes in the South West region. This latest donation funded a floating wheelchair for AdSurf, which enables those with limited mobility to surf the Cornish waves. 

Trustee Gill Cox, whose son Cyril is the surf lead for AdSurf, said:

“In June 2023, we ran our first sessions, and the demand was huge. Last year we ran 98 sessions and had around 50 participants; we expect that to be much more this year. This is our first Mobi-Chair and it’s an important piece of equipment.

“Some people who have come down to the sea have previously not been able to access it due to certain disabilities, but this means we can now offer those experiences for people.

“It’s amazing. I’m choked up that we’ve got this now. It’s what we wanted and more. It means we’re able to help and give back to people.”

Lessons are free to unfunded participants and take place on the scenic Summerleaze Beach in North Cornwall. Local resident and trustee, Kelly has been heavily involved with AdSurf ever since her son, Logan, began having lessons with the charity.

12 months ago, 15-year-old Logan was a wheelchair user. It’s charities like Adsurf which have really helped Kelly and Logan. Logan is now more mobile and a regular participant in surf classes. He was the first to test out the Mobi-Chair at a lesson earlier this year.

Logan said:

“It was good, nice and comfortable and felt safe. Surfing gives me freedom. It’s the one time you get to feel free, and your mind is clear.”

Kelly added:

“Through times where just getting out and about is difficult, something like AdSurf gets Logan out and doing things an average person can access. It makes life so much easier, so much more fun. It helps you forget the not so good stuff, and for Logan there’s no barriers to accessing it.

“It’s very overwhelming as a parent to see your child go into the water for the first time in a long time or in some cases for the first time ever. We’ve had some children that have never been able to access the water before, and just watching their parents’ faces is emotional every time.”

Piers Thompson, St Austell Brewery’s external relations director, said:

“It’s incredible causes like AdSurf which enhance the lives of people in the South West and beyond with their work, and that’s why we were delighted to be able to support them as a fellow charitable cause.

“We encourage any other charity or individual in need of financial support anywhere in the South West to approach the St Austell Charitable Trust as we potentially can help with the funding of equipment, courses and so much more.”

Find out more about AdSurf here, and about our Charitable Trust here.