Disabled surf festival returns to Benone

The local surfing school have been at Benone for a number of years and are already preparing for the third Disabled Surf Festival, having held the first event of its kind in Northern Ireland back in 2012.

Dan Lavery, the disabled surf festival organiser and owner of Long Line Surf School, explains: “This festival was created to give everyone the experience of surfing. We want the child or young person with the disability to take the driver’s seat but we also wanted it to be one of those rare events where the whole family is allowed as parents, guardians and siblings jumped in the water as well.”

Speaking about last year’s event, he said: “The idea for the day was that every person coming to take part was given a time slot of one hour, during which time they would be taken by our surf instructors and lifeguards.

“Now, as disabilities vary we made sure that we had a very low ratio in terms of volunteers. Each person taking part had at least one, if not two, volunteers standing right by their side.

“That is one thing that I am very strict on and the reason behind that is that surfing can be a very fun and enjoyable experience but if something goes wrong when there isn’t enough people looking after you then the experience can become intimidating and very unsettling. This is an experience we want everyone to enjoy and, especially, to have fun, no matter what, and also to have someone to enjoy that experience with.

“That person who is smiling and looking after you every step of the way and is giving you a great big hoot for catching a sick wave and there to high-five you when you get back out to the line up. If there is a smile on the face of each young person then that means our job is done!”

Dan added: “All the lifeguards and surf instructors were very honoured to work with these kids and to see them all bond as the day went on was something really special.”

This year’s event, supported by the charity Mencap, is to take place on Saturday, June 14, 2014.