Almudena Fernández and Kind Surf win Laureus España Marca Sport For Good Honour 2024
Almudena Fernández and Kind Surf, a project using ‘Surf Therapy’ to support young people at risk of social exclusion in Valencia and Zarautz, have received the 2024 Laureus España MARCA Sport for Good Honour at a ceremony in Malaga.
Spearheaded by model and eco-activist Almudena Fernández and surfer Artiz Aranburu, Kind Surf has established two permanent surf programmes running sessions on the water for eight months of the year both Valencia and Zarautz. Founded in 2012, the project has delivered impressive results, impacting over 1,500 young people at risk of social exclusion due to intellectual disabilities.
“When you experience the feeling of being able to help and make other people happy by improving their daily lives, it's the most beautiful and addictive feeling there is,” says Fernández, who, although she spends long periods of time in the United States for work, makes it her priority to get into the water and push the surfboards of children at risk of social exclusion due to intellectual disabilities.
“The sea and its waves see us all with the same eyes. When we go into it, we forget about everything that happens outside and we feel free to choose our next wave,” adds Aranburu, the leading Spanish surfer for years, before it became an Olympic discipline in Tokyo 2020.
Spearheaded by model and eco-activist Almudena Fernández and surfer Artiz Aranburu, Kind Surf has established two permanent surf programmes running sessions on the water for eight months of the year both Valencia and Zarautz. Founded in 2012, the project has delivered impressive results, impacting over 1,500 young people at risk of social exclusion due to intellectual disabilities.
“When you experience the feeling of being able to help and make other people happy by improving their daily lives, it's the most beautiful and addictive feeling there is,” says Fernández, who, although she spends long periods of time in the United States for work, makes it her priority to get into the water and push the surfboards of children at risk of social exclusion due to intellectual disabilities.
“The sea and its waves see us all with the same eyes. When we go into it, we forget about everything that happens outside and we feel free to choose our next wave,” adds Aranburu, the leading Spanish surfer for years, before it became an Olympic discipline in Tokyo 2020.
A team behind a great cause
The Kind Surf team consists of different therapeutic surf instructors, occupational therapists, professional surfers, coordinators, ambassadors, psychologists, volunteers and a communication team dedicated to the cause.
This evening in Malaga, Almudena Fernández and Kind Surf will become the fourth recipients of the prestigious Laureus España MARCA Sport for Good Honour. Fernández and Kind Surf follow 2021 recipients Pau and Marc Gasol and the Gasol Foundation, 2022 recipients Ana Peleteiro and ALDABA Foundation and Saúl Craviotto in 2023.
The Laureus España MARCA Sport for Good Honour is a celebration of the longstanding alliance between leading Spanish newspaper MARCA and Laureus Sport for Good, which, since its inception in 2000, has helped to improve the lives of over seven million young people and currently supports over 300 programmes in more than 40 countries.
The Kind Surf team consists of different therapeutic surf instructors, occupational therapists, professional surfers, coordinators, ambassadors, psychologists, volunteers and a communication team dedicated to the cause.
This evening in Malaga, Almudena Fernández and Kind Surf will become the fourth recipients of the prestigious Laureus España MARCA Sport for Good Honour. Fernández and Kind Surf follow 2021 recipients Pau and Marc Gasol and the Gasol Foundation, 2022 recipients Ana Peleteiro and ALDABA Foundation and Saúl Craviotto in 2023.
The Laureus España MARCA Sport for Good Honour is a celebration of the longstanding alliance between leading Spanish newspaper MARCA and Laureus Sport for Good, which, since its inception in 2000, has helped to improve the lives of over seven million young people and currently supports over 300 programmes in more than 40 countries.
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