By Grace Jones | posted on April 6, 2018
YOUNG people with autism will get the chance to feel the rush of what it’s like to surf when they spend the day at Ocean Beach this Sunday with Perth-based charity Ocean Heroes.
The group was started by keen surfers Luke Hallam and Sam Moyle two years ago and aims to enhance the lives of people on the autism spectrum through involvement in surfing.
Sunday’s event is their second trip to Denmark and they are optimistic of building on last year’s effort.
“It was a great day, but we just really didn’t have the numbers that we would have liked,” Mr Moyle said.
“I’m hoping that this year there will be more people registering since everyone had such a great time last year.
“Word of mouth spreads the message very quickly that we’re coming, so I’ve got my fingers crossed.”
Mr Moyle said Ocean Heroes was equipped to cater for a wide range of abilities.
“We get people of all sorts of abilities ranging from speaking to non-speaking as well as high and low mobility,” he said.
“Every participant is different and we make sure they all have lots of fun.”
An average session with the Ocean Heroes involves kids learning how to use a surfboard, catch a wave and eventually surf.
“We’ve got these big boards that the kids learn how to stand up on that we do on the sand,” he said.
“Every kid gets a wetsuit and a life jacket that we bring and they get to have an experience that not everyone gets.”
Sunday’s free event starts at 9am at Ocean Beach and registrations can be made via email at [email protected].
