UK's The Wave Project to host first ISTO conference in Europe

May 14, 2021 

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month in the US and Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK, this month we're spotlighting some of the incredible organizations in our network that focus on health and well-being. Today, we're featuring 2020 Beyond Sport Global Award winner, the International Surf Therapy Organization (ISTO).

Each year the International Surf Therapy Organization (ISTO) holds a symposium to foster discussion on surf therapy, which plays a significant role globally in improving peoples' health and wellbeing. For the first time ever the annual conference will be held in Europe with the UK’s The Wave Project - a founding member of ISTO - set to host this summer. 

From 2017 - 2019 ISTO's conferences have been held in South Africa and the US. The idea to hold the 2021 one in the UK came from The Wave Project Founder and CEO, Joe Taylor, who was inspired to bring practitioners together sooner rather than later following the 2019 event. Surf therapy charities and NGOs will gather from 5-8 July at Watergate Bay in Cornwall for the conference, which will include a day of free surfing lessons for people with disabilities, followed by three days of training and seminars.

Conscientious of planning while still in a declared global pandemic, the conference is intended for regional surf therapy programs throughout the UK and Europe - providing a tremendous opportunity to advance collective efforts and explore new ways of promoting surf therapy as an alternative form of treatment. "Our mission and vision center on expanding exposure and solutions to our mental health crisis," said ISTO Co-Founder and CEO Kris Primacio. “We are thrilled to have our first ISTO conference in the UK hosted by The Wave Project." 

Pro-surfers, scientists, researchers, non-profit organizations, policymakers and volunteers will focus on ‘Building Trust,’ with sessions exploring mental health, UN Sustainable Development Goal 3: Health and Wellbeing and more.

ISTO was founded in 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa by eight surf therapy programs from around the world. Its network enables a more inclusive and greater access to safe surf therapy by advancing research, sharing and developing best practices and advocating for surf therapy to be used globally to improve mental health. Today, the Sport for Health and Well-Being Award winner is working with over 80 members on six continents addressing conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD and trauma.

The Wave Project has made big waves in the surf therapy sector. Based in Cornwall and initially funded by the NHS as a pilot project in 2010, works to improve the emotional and physical well-being of young people who face mental health issues or social exclusion, offering them a dedicated six-week course of one-to-one surfing support. 

The charity has expanded across the South West of England and to North Yorkshire, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and London. With 40 staff and over 1,500 trained volunteer surf mentors, 5,000 young people have accessed Wave Project surf therapy courses to date. 

Recently, it announced plans for a purpose-built "beach school" near Cornwall to serve vulnerable local children who struggle to engage with traditional schools. This followed research which found that there was a growing need for different ways of reaching vulnerable children in the far south-west of Britain. A pre-application report on the project cited rising concerns about the mental health of Cornish children noting a greater proportion of social, emotional and mental health needs than across England as a whole and an increase in self-harm among young people.

“It is incredible how surf therapy has grown from an intuitive idea to a globally recognised form of therapy in such a short time,” stated Joe. “It is a huge honour for us at The Wave Project to be hosting the global surf therapy community here in Cornwall this summer to discuss how surfing can be extended as a form of therapy to more people around the world.” 

Normalizing discussions on mental health and mental illnesses can only occur with regular exposure. Kris believes that monthly recognitions such as Hispanic Heritage Month or Asian-American and Pacific Islander Month in the US matter significantly because they provide an opportunity to understand the richness of cultural identity. It is this same theory the organization wants to apply to acknowledging and appreciating the complexities of the mind during Mental Health Awareness Month and Week and throughout the year. 

"Surfing happens to be my prescription for maintaining my mental and physical wellbeing. When I began to place a higher value on my mental health above all material things, I experienced a wealth I've never know," said Kris. "Mental Health has been in the dark long enough. We're trading in the couch for a surfboard, going outdoors and proudly targeting mental health daily."

ISTO's Global Conference will take place virtually this December.