This man, Rob Shaddick (Aka Mr Surfplugs) has saved many of us from the DRILL! He has also shown us how huge his heart is. He is a Devon Boy you see. A surfer. A man that cares and who lives life. He has supported P4R from the early years and has funded not only a well in Sri Lanka but also surfing equipment. Rob realises the need for a balance in life and how we, as surfers, can help give that balance to others around the world, who are less fortunate than ourselves. Those that have suffered not one disaster but many.
Keep your eyes peeled for this van, and remember, Mr Surfplugs does not only save our ears! He is much more than that.
The Surfplugs Motor
Check out http://surfplugs.blogspot.com/ or http://www.surfplugs.co.uk/
Paddle4Relief, with the assistance of Surf Relief UK and Christian Surfers UK, have successfully shipped a consignment of surf boards and surf equipment to Sri Lanka.
The shipment was made by means of donations from Paddle4Relief, Tiki Surf International, Constantine Bay Surf Shop, Croyde Bay Surf Life Saving Club and numerous UK surfers, to Arugam Bay Surf Club.
The project was overseen by Phil Williams of the UK charity Christian Surfers UK and co-ordinated by Tim Tanton of North Devon based charity Paddle4Relief. Tim collected and packed the consignment of 36 boxes with a volume of more than six cubic metres and a weight in excess of 310kg.
A garage full of Surfboards 4 Sri Lanka
P4R Founder, Tim, had seen his garage gradually fill up with surfboards from as far back as the 1970’s and as new as 2010. The consignment included rescue boards, SUP’s, longboards, bodyboards, shortboards, fish, mini-mals and soft-tops, along with fins, leashes, wax, rash vests, wax combs, t-shirts and skateboard parts.
Surfboards waiting collection
Tim was fortunate to have the help of North Devon Christian Surfer Mark Dennis in loading the consignment onto the lorry for transportation to the port of departure in the UK. The surfboards etc are expected to reach the Port of Colombo, Sri Lanka, in mid-March. They left the UK on the vessel, Ever Sigma, on the 23rd February, thanks to Paul Beeson of the freight company, GBS Freight Services Ltd.
Arugam Bay Surf Club Secretary, Krishantha Ariyasena, together with West Coast Surf Club Founder, Dilsiri Welikala, will be receiving the consignment in Colombo.
The equipment will then be distributed by Arugam Bay Surf Club to developing surf clubs around the coast of Sri Lanka.
P4R Founder Tim Tanton and a winters work!
Further donations of surfboards and surfing equipment will be gratefully received for future consignments to Sri Lanka. Contact tim@paddle4relief.co.uk for further information.
So while i’m busy packing surfboards to sea freight to Sri Lanka, the British weather decides to put a spanner in the works!
Well, it’ll take more than the loss of render and a few bricks to stop the latest Paddle4Relief Project.
Barnstaple builder, Steve Bailey, will be doing what he does best when he is not fishing! Steve, who spent a month in Sri Lanka a few years back, carrying out building work at the local Pre-school, is always the first port of call for any building work. His twenty plus years of being in the trade are irreplaceable. He, and his trusty labourer, Mark, are a truely grafting combination and will have the house fully repaired in no time at all.
So, whilst Steve and Mark look after my house’s needs i will continue to concentrate on freighting around forty surfboards, bodyboards, SUP’s and surf rescue boards have been individually boxed by yours truely!
The boards will go to Arugam Bay Surf Club, Madiha Surf Club and the newly formed West Coast Surf Club to help the development of surfing in Sri Lanka.
If you have any unused, unwanted, old or broken surf equipment that you would like to donate to the young surfers of Sri Lanka then please email me.
Another shipment will be planned for later this year or early next year.
Appledore School (In celebration of Mrs Freeman from Appledore School)
Paddle4Relief would like to say a huge thank to the staff and children at Appledore School for their very kind donation of £228, which funded the restoration of a polluted and disused well in the village of Komari, Sri Lanka.
What started as an email enquiry to P4R Founder, Tim Tanton, from Emma Dennis (Parent Governer) and Annemarie Bettiss (School Bursar) resulted in nine Hindu families benefiting from a well providing them with safe drinking water. The well also provides the families with water for cooking, washing and general chores.
Previously Disused Well.
The donation was a result of the children from the school raising the money and deciding that they wanted to build a well, as a thank you to Mrs Freeman, the schools Head Mistress, who was leaving the school after fourteen years of service. They wanted something in which to remember her by, and for her to remember them.The well, situated on the eastern side of the village, close to the beach, has seen thirty-five villagers including fifteen children and six elders, benefit from the completion of the project.
Komari is situated approximately 20km’s north of the popular surfing destination of Arugam Bay, on the south-east coast of Sri Lanka. It is an extremely poor area with the average wage less than $2 a day. The community are primarily involved in farming and fishing.
The village was totally destroyed in the 2004 Asian Tsunami with only the church left standing. It is also an area that was severely affected by the civil war, and an area that was not safe to be out in during the hours of darkness during that time.
Now it is a place where recovery has been slow. Paddle4relief had researched the area and found that there were two wells that could be renovated.
Komari Community Social Well
The donation enabled P4R to increase the height of the well by more than a metre, and build a wide apron around the well, with a run off to ensure that waste water does not run/drain directly back into the clean well water. The interior of the well was re-rendered and the well itself pumped out and cleaned.
The second well was funded by Paddle4Relief. It is located on the west side of the village and now provides fifteen Hindu families with safe drinking water. Of the fourty-seven individuals making up the families, twenty-three are children and nine are elders. They again are predominantly involved in fishing and farming.
Massive thanks must go to Mark Brindle and the team at Maniac Films for having the patience to endure trawling through six years of P4R video footage! Special thanks must go to Steph Palmer for being the main editor of this project and to Stu Gaunt for the final edit.
Hopefully you will all find some identity in what we do as a team at P4R. It is not just about those that volunteer or serve on the committee but of those that put themselves out and offer their professional skills and services, like the team at Maniac Films. So, if you need something doing in the film and website media market then look no further than the small but beautiful formed team in Croyde! Or, if you want to get involved in P4R and what we do in Sri Lanka, then please contact Tim. Mark and his team have been awesome supporters and providers for P4R since our conception. Many thanks guys n gals.
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Asanka is yet again Sri Lanka’s Number 1 Surfer. He blitzed the field once again this year. Asanka, surfing a new board from Quiver, thanks to Guy @ The Board Barn and to Tim @ Paddle4relief. The 6-1 squash tail proved to be a suitable combination with the extremely talented 25 year old Arugam Bay [...]
We have a website! Thanks to one of our favourite guests, Freedom Beach Cabanas are happy to announce the arrival of a website! Jan Hanousek and his son, Nick, stayed late June into early july and scored waves every day! They also scored amazing hosts and amazing food. We organised transport to and from the airport [...]
