Inspire and empower Indigenous youth in Australia

We recently received this update from Deb at Desert2Surf - it's great to hear all of the positive feedback:

We are just back from our FANTASTIC Stand and Lead 2012 trip in the Northern Territory. Everything went according to plan and we can't wait to share it all with you. Having the extra stand up paddle boards was brilliant.  In each of the three sessions the kids were on the boards the whole time. We had to drag them off every session when it was pack up time!

The t-shirts, rashies and hats were awesome and we felt very proud to be wearing them. I hope you like the photo of the girls in the rashies (they are the girls set to come to Victoria in December to surf).

We have so many great shots, I've up loaded three albums (an album from each session) to Desert2Surf's Facebook.  Maybe you could have a quick look at them: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Desert2Surf/94833394047.

Thank you so much once again for your support. We are so grateful!

Firstly, having t-shirts, rash vests and hats with the Desert2Surf logo impacts directly on D2S personnel. Practically it promotes the sun safe message when we work with youth on trips and it makes us easily identified in indigenous communities where visitor protocols need to be observed. It also enhances the sense of purpose and teamwork which is essential for achieving our goals. The impact on trip participants is also of a practical nature in that it provides sun protection and easy identification especially when surfing. As well as rewarding participants with something special to keep it promotes a sense of belonging and achievement which is important.

The greatest impact of the funding is being able to continue and expand the ‘Stand and Lead’ project into 2012.  Without the funding the project may not have been able to consolidate and move into the leadership phase.  ‘Stand and Lead’ gives indigenous youth the opportunity to participate in stand up paddling sessions, on billabongs in their own community, where they learn both technique and water safety. Stand up paddling is a perfect flat water alternative and can lead up to ocean surfing, where some participants in the stand up paddling sessions are invited to travel south to surf with D2S on Victoria’s west coast in the warmer months which is very exciting!

Finally, the purchase of two stand up paddle boards means that more youth can participate in D2S sessions and more remote communities can have potentially year-round access to a positive and productive recreational outlet, which is our overall aim.

We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone for all of the donations that our making these developments possible!