Ladies of all ages from across Mayo are being called on to get ‘bodacious’ and hit the surf as part of a charity campaign to celebrate the inspirational women in their lives.
Elvis Beetham and Jo Doran of the SurfMayo school have arranged an all-female day on the waves at Carrowniskey Strand, Louisburgh.
The day aims to raise funds for an Oxfam campaign called ‘Female Heroes’. The campaign asks people in Ireland to celebrate their women heroes and all funds raised from the campaign go towards education initiatives for women in poorer countries.
Mr Beetham said they heard about the Female Heroes campaign and wanted to get involved.
“It just appealed to us and we thought we could put something together. We came up with the Women’s Surf Day for Saturday, May 31,” he explained.
An evening event at 9pm in Blousers Pub, Westport, called RESPECT, is also arranged on the same date to celebrate all of the greatest female artists from soulful divas to pop princesses.
Mr Beetham encouraged women of all ages to come along, no matter what their level of experience atop a surfboard might be.
“All sessions are run by experienced surf instructors and qualified beach lifeguards,” he advised. “We have wetsuits to fit all and the day is for anyone who’d like to come along, from women who have never surfed before but would like to give it a try, to people who have surfed once or twice and fancy developing their skills, and even people who have surfed quite a bit but want to bring their skills up to the next level.”
There will be two surf sessions on the day, the first one starting at 10 am, and the second one beginning at 1 pm.
Mr Beetham said Carrowniskey beach is the perfect place to learn and enjoy surfing.
“It’s a really good beach. We use it every day, all year around, because it’s a safe environment with consistent waves,” he added.
The surf sessions are free but those who come along are encouraged to make a donation to the Oxfam Heroes campaign. Tickets for the RESPECT evening of music are €10 each and early booking is advised as numbers for the night time event are limited to 40.
Contact Elvis Beetham, SurfMayo, on (087 ) 7786821 for more information.
