Seaful's Vitamin Sea Project aims to help people find their own connection to the ocean. We do this by facilitating mindful in-person experiences of our seas and waterways, such as stand-up paddleboarding, snorkelling and rockpooling, We help those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to explore blue spaces near where they live, form a connection with them and learn about the important roles they play. We focus on the wellbeing benefits of being by water, and facilitate an appreciation of how it feels to be there, empowering them to find these benefits outside of our sessions too. We also hope to inspire and educate our beneficiaries, create a sense of wonder and awe for our ocean, and empower stewardship for nature. People protect what they love, but they can only love what they know - our aim is to help translate a connection to a place to becoming an ocean citizen, empowering our beneficiaries to stand up for the protection of nature through our resources and support.
Our Vitamin Sea Project activities to date have included snorkelling in the marine protected area around Lundy Island with Young Carers, stand-up paddleboarding with Ukranian refugees, and rockpooling with teenagers. We've taken inner city children from Glasgow to the Isle of Arran to see for themselves what's underwater, and created days out paddleboarding, nature walking and learning about mental health at Chelmarsh reservoir near Wolverhampton for local school children. We have run SUP clean ups, beach workshops and mindfulness in nature sessions, and have found groups up and down the UK that have hugely benefited from experiences they might not otherwise have had. We have conducted film screenings, school talks and education programmes to help our beneficiaires learn more about the ocean and waterways, and have been involved in mental health and blue health workshops.
This year, we're increasing our offerings in areas we alreadt work in, and expanding to new areas in the UK! We'll be running a bespoke programme for Ukranian refugees in North Devon, initiating SUP sessions in Cornwall and Wales, and finding new snorkelling spots around the coast for young people. We're also really excited to kick off our Peer to Peer learning programme, empowering young people to learn about the ocean and what it means to be Seaful, and passing on this knowledge and passion to other members of the community who might not be as far along their ocean connection journey. We'll be running our projects from the South coast of England to the North West Highlands of Scotland!
