Waves Of Wellness Foundation: Great Aussie Charities You’ve Never Heard Of…

WOW is Waves of Wellness, a mental health charity promoting mental health and well-being through surf therapy. Imagine a world where invisible mental health issues are treated like any other physical injury, with no social stigma, and people struggling through it don’t have to go it alone.

What’s your mission?

Our mission is to implement innovative programs that break down the barriers and stigma that prevent people from being well. Mental health issues affect 1 in 5 people in Australia, but the real problem, 65% of these people don’t seek support. The challenge is that we can’t see mental health issues, so unless people have the chance to share their experiences or open up in a comfortable environment, we just don’t know about it. It’s often the people in our lives whom we expect the least, who are struggling the most.

Where did it all begin?

Joel — “I’m a mental health Occupational Therapist and surfing has been a big part of my life for 20 years. Mental health challenges have touched members of my family, so it’s always been a particular interest of mine. I took a bit of gamble when working as a clinician, taking one of my clients surfing in our 1:1 session.

The transformation was incredible, whereby he opened up more in 30 minutes than he had in the last 3 months. This sparked a passion which snowballed into the journey of surf therapy. Around the same time I came across the brilliant work of OneWave, and spent 4 years working with them driving mental health awareness through Fluro Fridays. Waves of Wellness has now operated in 3 states across Australia, and we’ve got big plans ahead.”

A day in the life at WOW:

The alarm goes off at 5:45am. A quick coffee and banana on the way to the beach as the sun pops over the headland. First up we’ve got our Movember prevention program — WOW Sand n’ Surf, with 10 excited people getting their dose of surf therapy before heading to work in the city.

Next we’ve got the WOW Surfing Experience, our more clinical program for people who are diagnosed with mental health issues. Getting together with like-minded people, trying something new and using the ocean as a coping strategy is what it’s all about. We run through a different mental health discussion topic each week, then we have a ball together in the ocean.

Lunch comes around, then we’re into the city to run the WOW Corporate Experience — our wellbeing in the workplace program. 50 people from a well known company spend the next 2 hours diving into discussions, activities and role plays about wellbeing. How to identify if themselves or a colleague is finding it tough, and what to do to support them at work, and home.

Impact Story:

Matt, one of our WOW Surfing Experience participants, he said “The 2 hours I spend here [at the program], are the only 2 hours that I don’t hear the voices in my head, or I don’t have to rehearse everything I’m going to say.”

What do you do with your donations?

We use donations to get more vulnerable people in the ocean, just like Matt. We ensure our programs are always free for the participant, as we don’t want barriers such as affordability to ever be an issue. It costs $500 for one person to complete an 8 week program, so the more we fundraise, the more lives we can positively impact.

Any events or volunteer opportunities coming up?

We’ve got our big yearly fundraiser coming up on August 4th — the WOW Sydney Black Tie Charity Ball. It’s a gala event at the Four Seasons hotel, with plenty of surprises on the evening in true ‘WOW factor’ fashion.

Are you Tax Deductible? Yes

Check out more on the WOW Website: www.foundationwow.org

Or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foundationwow/