A Groundswell Defined

Is a considerable swell of the sea, caused by a distant storm. The passage of waves as they make their way into shallow water.

Or by extension a broadly-based shifting of peoples feeling opinion and movement to action. (AID) - to help

The Mission: To harness the resources of the surfing community to aid the global community.

Vision: To generate a groundswell of people that bring the stoke to the global surfing community.

What is Groundswell Aid?

By nature, surfers have an unusual desire to travel to the ends of the earth in order to find the next wave.  This pursuit often brings them face to face with a poverty not commonly seen by tourists. 

Groundswell Aid was founded by Roy Harley, International Director of Christian Surfers, as he toured the world and saw that surfers across the globe were getting involved in community development and social justice; both locally and as they traveled looking for waves. While in Australia, he met with Jeff Ryan, founder of Misfit Aid and as they connected Jeff decided to dissolve Misfit Aid and help Roy launch something new.

We are proud to partner with projects who incorporate surfing as a way to impact their community, whether on the islands of Mauritius and Indonesia, or the coastlines of El Salvador, Chile and South Africa, our projects are working to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most.

We believe in asset based community development and let the local contacts for our projects drive the way we support them. This includes service trips, providing surfing equipment, promoting locally made goods, and financial assistance for specific one-time costs.

Timeline

2004 / False Conception
Roy Harley & Mark Edwards pitched Groundswell as a branding idea at the Christian Surfers International Gathering in Hossegor, France, but nothing comes of it.

2015 / Conception
Roy Harley the incoming International Director for Christian Surfers refloats the Groundswell concept refined as a community development vehicle for Christian Surfers.

2016 / GSA meets Misfit Aid
Roy Meets Jeff Ryan, Founder of Misfit Aid. Jeff re-brands Misfit Aid into Groundswell Aid Australia.

2017 / Soft Launch
Groundswell Aid is soft-launched to the senior leadership of Christian Surfers and starts supporting projects raising and distribution $60,000 in Aid within 18 months.

2018 / Launch
In an unscripted poetic moment, Groundswell Aid launches formally at the Christian Surfers International Gathering in Hossegor, France 14 years after initial concept is pitched.

2019 / Groundswell Made
We discover that the supported projects are producing products. To aid with sustainability Groundswell Aid sets up an online retail space selling the products on behalf of the Projects.

2019 / Groundswell Trade
Simultaneously in order to meet the growing running and infrastructure costs of Groundswell Aid, we launch Groundswell Trade a small fair trade sustainability product line that assists with branding and increases sustainability.

2020 / Hello World
Groundswell Aid is given a booth at the January Global Surf Expo trade show in Orlando Florida where they connect with the mainstream surfing industry for the first time.

Our Team