Yonder is a family collaboration between long time east coast surfer and Finisterre Ambassador Sally McGee and her husband, surfer, skate coach and professional photographer Tom Bing.
While Community is at the absolute core of what we do, our work began with a lack of community. As a professional surfer, Sally was often the only woman in the sea, and one of less than 5 women surfers in the UK. Determined to change the culture and narrative, she founded Surf Yonder and over ten years has been the driving force behind a revolution in the UK’s swimming and surfing. She has created a strong community of women surfers and sea swimmers in the process.
Yonder Surf Academy is the CIC arm of Yonder with a mission to inspire and support marginalised women and girls to build confidence, self-esteem and positive mental health. The CIC was set up to be able to locate funding to offer lessons, coaching and courses to women and girls in the community who might not otherwise have the opportunity. We recognise that accessing the ocean and surfing can have many barriers and we wanted to remove the financial barrier whilst working hard on all other aspects to create a welcoming and open space for our participants. We work closely with accredited and fully insured surf schools and skate coaches to carry out the sessions.
Sally’s hard work has created this thriving community, and we are delighted to have their support and guidance in our work. We have a board made up of community members, participants, and partners who input into our work, who act as a community steering committee. We conduct an annual survey to understand the impact of our work. It has been through the enthusiasm and encouragement of the community that we have expanded from small groups to more community event organising. This enables us to bring in a wider range of people, and has had a hugely positive response.
