Our volunteer program reopens – February 2021

We are super stoked to announce that our volunteer program will open again in February 2021!! 🙂

Our volunteer program provides the helping hands needed to run our program but also contributes to the financial sustainability of Surfpop, therefore absolutely crucial to our success.

This year has been incredibly difficult, presenting new challenges around every corner, but perhaps the most challenging part was running a program with 34 children without our normal flow of international volunteers. We had a small crew of local volunteers helping out who were absolute champions, thank you so much to all of you, we salute you!

Are you keen to volunteer?

Join Surfpop for a salty adventure and unforgettable experience! We offer different surf and yoga camps, each one designed to give you an epic experience. We host you in our beautiful Surfpop house in Muizenberg. In the mornings, we teach you how to ride waves, bring your surfing to the next level and help you find flexibility and inner peace through yoga lessons. We also take you on off the beaten track tours to explore all the natural beauty of the Cape Peninsula.

In the afternoons, you share your skills with Surfpop by coaching and mentoring the Surfpop children from townships around Cape Town. As a volunteer you help the Surfpop team with all program activities. As a coach, you assist the children in the ocean by sharing your skills and love for surfing with them. When you are not coaching the children in the water, you help them in the Surfpop classroom. As a mentor, you assist the children with their homework, guide them with their Maths and English courses and help prepare and facilitate life skills and vocational workshops for them. Do you have other unique skills that you would like to share with the children and with Surfpop? We are eager to learn from you!

Please help us spread this message by sharing with your family and friends.

Are you a business looking to connect and contribute to a social cause? Read on to hear more about our current and new partners and let us know if you see an opportunity to jump on board!

We are forever grateful for all the new and exciting opportunities that we have received. With all the major ups and downs this year, the one thing that remained constant was growing our network of friends, collaborators and partners.

We are super thankful for the constant support from Importers Coffee, keeping the Surfpop children stoked with epic surf gear. As Surfpop took on new beneficiaries in February, each child received his/her own surfboard and wetsuit. The stoke was real!

We were put in the spotlight with the assistance of South African professional big wave surfer Matt Bromley, driving our plea for support during Covid-19. When Matt is not dedicating his time to good causes and inspiring youngsters, he can be found chasing some pretty deadly waves around the globe. Check it out here: Risky Ripples

During Covid-19 our friend Scott Curnow-Baker from Baker & Co Productions generously provided us with an abundance of fresh veggies on a weekly basis, in aid of our food support program.

Michael February, legendary South African professional surfer, alongside his wife Zelti February, launched JUJU Surf Club. JUJU is a non-profit organization dedicated to highlighting and supporting surf sites and initiatives in Africa. Surfpop was chosen as one of the African surf initiatives to receive support from JUJU and subsequently became a beneficiary of their first campaign with American brand, Slowtide.

Trizanne Barnard, the wonderful woman behind Dawn Patrol Wines, committed to supporting Surfpop through her wine sales. Not only is the wine delicious but for every bottle purchased a percentage goes to Surfpop. Keep it mind next time you’re buying wine 😉

Alex Glenday and Jemma McGrath from Brew Kombucha, long-term partner of Surfpop, set up a donation drive for the month of November, allowing their customers to easily scan a QR code on their bottle and make a donation directly to Surfpop.

Big thanks to everyone, and for those not mentioned, please know that your support has proven invaluable and we greatly appreciate it!

Are you a business looking to get involved?

Surfpop Foundation is registered as a non-profit organization (NPO) and Public Benefit Organization (PBO) with 18A status in South Africa. Therefore, all donations to Surfpop Foundation are tax deductible in South Africa. Any business, big or small, that pays tax in South Africa, can donate up to 10% of their taxable income, and deduct that from their taxable income when we issue you with a 18A certificate.

We are also a registered non-profit organization (NPO) with ANBI status in The Netherlands. All donations go directly to Surfpop Foundation South Africa and are tax deductible in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Contact us at info@surfpop.co.za for more information.

We would love to hear from you 🙂

After six months of no surf due to the pandemic, Surfpop is finally back in the water! We are incredibly happy that we have been able to resume our education activities since June to ensure that the children do not fall further behind with their education. But, education classes without surf sessions is not the same, and is not the Surfpop ethos.

The stoke amongst the children and our Surfpop team is incredibly high! Seeing their faces as they saw the ocean again for the first time after six months and seeing them catch their first waves – there are no words to describe these moments.

But, we could not have resumed our surfing activities without the support of volunteers. As our borders are still closed, we needed support from local volunteers. We have been absolutely blown away by the enthusiasm from our local community to help Surfpop in the surf and in our classroom!

Do you live in Cape Town or the Cape peninsula and do you have time to volunteer at least two afternoons per month from 3-5pm, give us a shout. We would love to hear from you!

Thank you for the boundless support during this pandemic! Since March we have provided 1,000 nutritious food parcels, which equals around 30,000 nutritious meals, to families in Masiphumelele township, supporting them during the Covid-19 pandemic. Every week, during the food handout, we also checked in with each family to assess how they were doing.

In addition to our direct food assistance, we coordinated a wider food support response in the township in partnership with The Big Food Drive and launched a Surfpop community vegetable garden. The vegetable garden can provide vegetables for the nutritious food parcels, so we can sustainably continue our support. It can also provide for the daily nutritious meals we give the Surfpop children. The garden has proven to be the perfect teaching ground to show the children how to grow their own vegetables, a skill that they can bring home to their families.

We could have not done this without the support from our local and international friends and surf community.

Thank you!

Hi, my name is Fabian and I am a 28-year old PhD student from Germany. I took two months of unpaid vacation to support the @surfpopafrica project as a volunteer in 2019. It was one of the best decisions of my life. For me, the project offered the perfect mix between helping children from disadvantaged communities through my involvement and, at the same time, exploring South Africa and Cape Town, while meeting new people from around the world. Surfpop gave me a lot of freedom to bring in my individual skills. From helping the children in the classroom and in the surf to supporting Surfpop as an organization in many other ways. Seeing the children improve is such a rewarding feeling. I made a lot of incredible ‘first time ever’ experiences and you can expect unique tours based on local know-how. For us volunteers, the permanent Surfpop team members always provided the necessary assistance and lovely care in every way. Thank you for a great time!

 

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to our Covid-19 Campaign so far and to pro surfer and legend Matt Bromley for his epic support in launching it! The support that has come in from all around the world has been incredible!

As for everyone, Covid-19 has posed challenges. Apart from our Surfpop program activities coming to a halt, it also ended our main source of income; our affiliated tourism business. We put our thinking hats on and explored ways in which we could continue to support our staff, children and their families, all of whom live in Masiphumelele township and who need us now more than ever. The general living conditions in the townships are extremely difficult as is. With Covid-19, many families have lost their entire income, and a food crisis is on the lure.

We needed to do something! Before lockdown started, we handed out our first parcels of nutritious food, vitamins, soaps and financial aid. Every week local farmers deliver an assortment of vegetables and fruits to us, we pack the parcels and hand them out ourselves. But not before we checked in with our local partners and our families to assess the needs as the situation changes. We are playing with some really cool ideas to make our support even more sustainable. More on that soon! Stay tuned 🙂

You can still support us!

Head over to our campaign page!