Present Projects 
Surfboards 4 Sri Lanka
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 funding for the shipment was a joint effort by the three UK organisations that have been paramount in working towards developing the sport of surfing in Sri Lanka, following the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami.
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.
The P4R Founder had seen his garage gradually fill up with surfboards from as far back as the 1970's and as new as 2010. Tim himself has selflessly purchased numerous surfboards with the enormous help of Tiki Surf International. 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.
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 other developing surf clubs around the coast of Sri Lanka. The Arugam Bay Surf Club is the first surf club to be registered in Sri Lanka by the Sri Lanka Sports Ministry. The club's Chairman, Fawas, has worked tirelessly since 2006 to achieve this important recognition. He is now working with newly established clubs in the south and west of the island for their registration as well. Both Madiha Surf Club near Matara and West Coast Surf Club based in Colombo have been a result of the 'Birth of a Surfing Nation' project which was initially established in 2010 by Peter Rob-o, an Australian based in France and P4R's Tim Tanton. The focus is to create and develop 'The Surfing Federation of Sri Lanka' by motivating, supporting, educating and empowering the young surfers in Sri Lanka to produce a surfing culture that is able to provide a sustainable lifestyle for themselves and for their families and communities.
Further donations of surfboards and surfing equipment will be gratefully received for future consignments to Sri Lanka. Please contact tim@paddle4relief.co.uk for further information.
Arugam Bay Surf Club Promo 2010
Big thank you to Stu Everitt for his filming and editing skills
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.
Previously disused well.
Stagnent ground next to the 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.
Water run off
In celebration of Mrs. Freeman . . . .
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.
Crystal clear drinking water.
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.
Paddle4Relief Promo Video 2010
Mucho thanks to Mr Mark Brindle and the team @ ManiacFilms. Special thanks to Steph Palmer for doing the main edit and to Stu Gaunt for the finish edit. An awesome piece of work. Respect. Tim
Code of Conduct 2010
(Arugam Bay Surf Club)
Arugam Bay Surf Club (Photograph courtesy of AiyaSurfPhotography)
Arugam Bay Surf Club with the support of Paddle4relief have produced a Code of Conduct for all surfers visiting Arugam Bay. The members of the club, the local surfers, recognise the importance of highlighting the need for safety in the water. They realise the value of respecting everyone’s desire to enjoy the waves. This season has seen an increase in surfers visiting this top quality right point break. it has also seen a number of anti-social incidents every day in the water. Incidents materialising from a minority of surfers who feel it necessary to paddle for, and take every wave! Many of these surfers, can’t surf, and ruin it for those that can, and those that respect their fellow surfers around them, and that acknowledge etiquette in the water. Arugam Bay Surf Club members are promoting safety in the water and respect for ones fellow surfers. If a small group of surfers from a third world country that have suffered a civil war and a massive natural disaster can stand up and be counted for the safety of others then why cant the travelling surfer respect their peers also? Wake up everyone. Look at what a small group of youngsters have done and please share the waves with a smile! They are prepared to share their home break with all that come to enjoy the waves. Please be prepared to come and share the waves to. No-one is greater than the other. If you can surf, then you know the buzz, the fire, the feeling! Sit back, shout someone else into the next set wave, and share their joy! Smile and hoot with them. Chill in the line-up, be mellow, and wait your turn for one of mother natures heavenly walls of blue/green glass throwing out it’s curtain of white water. Hats off to the local surfers of Arugam Bay for they truely walk the walk!
Walking the walk (Photograph courtesy of AiyaSurfPhotography)
Indola Sports Sponsors
The very first WQS Sri Lanka Trials Surfing Event held in Arugam Bay, on the 16th and 17th June 2010 received sponsorship from Sri Lanka business, Indola Sports, based in Colombo. Indola Sports Sales Manager, Rebecca Palmer, linked with Sri Lanka Surfing Federation Overseas Fundraising Manager, Tim Tanton, in providing the surfers and officials with 100 limited edition t-shirts.
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Sri Lanka's Surfers with Indola Sports Sales Manager, Rebecca Palmer
(Photo courtesy of Peter Rob-o)
The competition was organised by the Arugam Bay Surf Club in association with the Surfing Federation of Sri Lanka, and Rebecca travelled to the East Coast of Sri Lanka to experience the closely fought event. The trials saw more than thirty Sri Lankan surfers from all over the island compete for the coveted two Wild Card places in the main Sri Lankan Airlines Pro sponsored ASP WQS 6 Star contest that took place directly after the Sri Lankan competition. In the end it was Arugam Bay's Asanka and Milan who won the coveted Wild Card entries, and with it $500 each. Arugam Bay club officials Fawas, Krish and Sril headed an enthusiastic team of surfers who worked hard throughout both the trials and main event.
ASP Australasia Tour Manager, Dane Jordan, was extremely impressed with Arugam Bay's surfers, and identified their motivation and enthusiasm for the sport as being crucial to the success of the high-profile ASP WQS contest. Dane also offered his full support to the proposed plans to develop a Surfing Federation in Sri Lanka.
Rebecca with SFSL's Peter Rob-o (left) & Tim Tanton, with ASP Tour Manager, Dane Jordan (far right).
(Photo courtesy of AiyaSurfPhotography)
Indola Sports are the first Sri Lankan business to offer direct support to the proposed Sri Lanka Surfing Federation. The company realises the importance of the surfing to Sri Lanka, both for the economy and to the individuals who surf. The sport offers individuals a healthy balance in their lives when combined with their work, study and family commitments. The surplus t-shirts from the event, of which there are only a few, can be purchased from Arugam Bay Surf Club. Many thanks must go to Indola Sports for having the vision to recognise and support the goal of the majority of Sri Lankan Surfers.
Surfing Federation of Sri Lanka
P4R Founder and Chairman, Tim Tanton, is working with Australian Peter Rob-o in setting up the Surfing Federation of Sri Lanka. The long term project of Tim's has been slowly taking shape through the Arugam Bay Surf Club over the past 5 years. There had been many organisations and individuals who had shown interest over the years but alas nothing of substance had materialised. Then the chance meeting of Tim and Rob-o in Arugam Bay, at the end of last year, saw the Federation momentum intensify and the long term dream become a definite possibility. Both Peter and Tim had the same vision and are now working tirelessly at establishing the Federation. The inaugural AGM will be in Arugam Bay on the 19th June 2010. At this time there will be an election of officers for the Executive Committee of the Federation. The timing fits in with the arrival of the WQS 6 Star event on the 18th june and the WQS Sri Lanka Trials Event on the 16/17th June, to establish the top 2 surfers in Sri Lanka who will go through as wild cards to surf against the elite of the WQS. Check out www.surfingsrilanka.com and help us support the immense talent of young surfers in Sri Lanka.
School Book Project
The end of 2009 saw ten schools blessed with resources distributed by Paddle4Relief. Resources varied from pens, pencils, crayons and exercise books to reading books, educational toys, games and puzzles.
Leah Reynolds from Bideford joined P4R Founder Tim Tanton in Sri Lanka, for a month. She had to sort out more than twenty boxes of items that had been stored in a wood built cabana that had been damaged by monsoon rains and had suffered attacks from both wood ants and rats. The state of some of the books and puzzles were too poor to distribute.
Unfortunately those that were too badly damaged had to be burnt. The others were boxed and divided up into appropriate consignments for the various schools that had been selected. The books, games, toys and crayons etc were donated by many individuals all over the South West. Further resources were purchased by Paddle4Relief whilst other items were left over from projects headed by Jan Weeratunga and Kay Holt.
Leah, Tim and P4R Project Manager, Krishantha distributed the books to schools in Arugam Bay, to the nearby town of Pottuvil, and further afield, travelling more than two and a half hours by tuk tuk to an area of the country known for its poverty!
The Leheni Pre School caters for around 30 under fives. The local community run the school themselves. The mothers of the young children are there very day helping the teachers with keeping the classroom and playground clean and tidy and helping to supervise the children at during breakfast time. The school is open from Monday to Friday from 07.30 to 11.30am. It is situated in an extremely poor area of the country. Everybody was extremely surprised to see us, as like so much of the country it is an area that is either rarely visited by tourists or is just another small village or town that you travel through on your way to your planned destination.
By spending time sitting down and communicating with the communities of Sri Lanka one gets to hear of the countries more poverty stricken areas. The people of Sri Lanka have huge hearts, massive smiles and will give you their last grain of rice. If they know of an area more poor and desperate than their own, and in need of help, they will openly inform you of it. This is a time that your heart gets even more torn to bits! You realise that the task in hand is massive and that the needs of so many are out of reach from getting help. It is a matter of accepting that you can only physically, mentally and emotionally do so much!
An opportunity arose to reach more schools with the resources we had, and for the local community to take control of managing them. Basheer, Founder of The Cultural Development Community of Sri Lanka - Pottuvil, and his team, are able to facilitate the sharing of these resources and allocate them to the areas where they will provide the most help. The CDC were able to distribute the donated items to six different schools within the local district.
The distribution of the resources had to include the school closest to P4R's Founder, Tim Tanton's heart! The pre school at the south end of the fishing village of Arugam Bay, up the hill, next to the Buddhist Temple, and the place where P4R's largest project exists.
(Photographs are courtesy and copyright of Paddle4Relief and Aiya Surf Photography)
Beach Litter Signs!
Click each image to view a gallery version or click each individually.
The surfers of Arugam Bay, members of the Arugam Bay Surf Club, have managed to fund a project where they took the initiative and made and erected signs for their beach. Since the end of the civil war, back in May 2009, the beach in Arugam Bay has seen countless more visitors, and with it, rubbish! The young surfers are very much aware of the importance of protecting their natural playground. The sea and beach is not just a playground though, its a way of life, its where they fish to earn the money to support their families.
So with the help of travelling surfers and Paddle4Relief, the boys raised enough money to purchase materials to make four signs. The local surfers were concerned at the state of the beach and the effect the rubbish was having on their environment.
Fawas, Chairman of Arugam Bay Surf Club and Krishantha, Secretary, built the signs whilst myself, Leah, Erandathi and Fawas carried out the artwork in three languages; Sinhalese, English and Tamil.
Now there is no excuse for people to throw their rubbish on or around the beach area. The signs are clearly there to inform visitors that their rubbish is not wanted.
The local Special Task Force and Tourist Association have also acted on the problem and got involved. They have provided bins and more signs.
I personally, am very happy at seeing this initiative develop. From back in 2005 when we were involved in the first village clean there has been a slow but progressive movement towards keeping the village and beach clear of rubbish. The young surfers in particular appear to be at the forefront of this movement and are fully supported by the Paddle4Relief Team.
Well Projects
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One of our wells.Paddle4relief are involved in completing a further four well projects. We continue to employ a caretaker and cleaner at the pre-school. The pre-school is therefore maintained and cleaned.
Click here to go to the blog.
Intended Projects
Paddle4relief intend to complete a further ten well projects. The cost of which will be apporoximately £1500.00. £150.00 per well on average.
Past Projects
Paddle4reliefs Chairman and Founder, Tim Tanton, spent in total, around 8 months managing projects in Arugam Bay during three trips in 2008.
September to December saw Tim being joined by fellow committee member Chantal Denham in working within this small community.
2008 saw Paddle4relief achieve nine well projects. Providing safe drinking water to more than 40 families, which was over 150 individuals, of which over 50 were children.
We both maintained and improved the pre-school. Implementing a new water pipeline which included providing running water within the classroom.
We also installed a water filtering unit.
Chantal focused her energies in teaching at the Montesoori (Pre-school) that Paddle4relief completed in 2006. She also had the vision to make improvements in the facilities and teaching methods and increased the number of activity sessions with the local young children so improving social interaction and development..
We repaired the roofs of two Tea Shops so enabling them to continue operating.
We set up a Swimming Club and Cricket Group.
We funded the emergency transporting and treatment of a young girl who had inadvertently swallowed battery acid. They gave her little hope to live. The good news is that she is well and healthy following a series of operations. She is back to working on her families land and socialising with her friends including dancing at community festivities.
We provided first aid on an almost daily basis and purchased medicines for those that were unable to afford to purchase themselves.
We financed one family setting up a fish selling business to help feed their three young children.
We funded families to improve their businesses so as to improve their chances of trading and feeding their families.
We repaired the Temple Road that leads to the Buddhist and Hindu temples as well as the Montesoori.
