I founded Surfwell with James in 2018 while managing a team of frontline police officers. I was driven to create an alternative form of support for all of those within the emergency services after seeing so many of my friends and colleagues struggle to cope with the effects of prolonged stress, burnout and trauma.
I have worked as a police officer for almost 20 years in a variety of different positions including frontline response, investigation and leadership roles. During this time I have seen first-hand how a lack of adequate provisions can have a direct impact on performance, staff retention and individual wellbeing.
I have also seen the impacts of poor mental health on those closest to me and at times felt those impacts myself but I believe this has given me a level of insight which is essential to be able to deliver and develop an effective programme of this nature.
In the last 10 years there has been a wide recognition of what has been referred to as the ‘mental health crisis’ within the UK emergency services and NHS which has been exacerbated further through the pandemic. The public need these services to function as efficiently and effectively as possible and that means the staff within these services need to be able to perform to the best of their abilities.
The ethos behind creating Surfwell was simple - To provide tangible support that utilises a proven and evidenced form of therapy that would deliver meaningful results, helping to get people back in to work functioning at their best.
Surfwell is based on the principles of Surf-therapy which has been proven to be a highly effective form of support particularly for military veterans around the world. Surf-Therapy capitalises on numerous aspects that have been shown to be beneficial to mental health such as cold-water immersion and exposure to a natural environment.
In developing our programme we have taken many of the proven attributes from Surf-Therapy and combined them with a highly professional team who have specific and relevant lived experience.
Creating Surfwell and seeing the positive impact it has had on the thousands of people who have come through the programme is something I will always be proud of.
My vision is for Surfwell to be available to the entire UK emergency services and beyond….
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