In February 2026 we completed our first annual adaptive surf camp for past beneficiaries.
This is one of the ways we are able to offer continued engagement and work closely with communities to achieve long term impact. Adaptive Sport opportunities pioneer wellbeing and sport for development and are key in removing barriers to social inclusion.
Whilst our initial focus is provision of an appropriate mobility device, taking part in an activity that is extremely outside of a disabled person’s comfort zone and every day life gives them the opportunity to challenge their boundaries, overcome their fears and build their confidence in a meaningful way. The independence and resilience of this experience helps to foster powerful change by enabling wheelchair users to become more active within their communities.
During our first camp we worked in close partnership with local surf school ‘Cap Surf’ to deliver a person centred experience focusing on participation, inclusion and wellbeing. One of the features of the camp was local capacity building, with Cap Surf coaches training in adaptive coaching and by the end of the camp leading the sessions. This local leadership is key in our vision of sustainability and the team’s enthusiasm about bringing adaptive surfing to Senegal for the first time was rewarding to experience.
Across the three days our participants, none of whom had ever visited the beach or swum in the sea before, were guided through sessions by specialist coaches. For some, this meant catching prone waves with the help of a spotter behind them and catchers waiting on the shore. For others, it meant progressing from a complete fear of even getting wet to sitting in deeper water and playing among the waves. This change in comfort, from a very understandable hesitancy towards even entering the water on the first day, to asking for ‘one more’ wave again and again at the end of the final session really reinforced the growth that took place over the camp, one which we hope is transferable to other areas in the participants lives.
