Inclusive outdoor activities in the heart of the community has always been our drive. WhatSUP was founded in 2017. Initially the aim was to make SUP affordable for many local families, as a fun day out. We were approached by several organisations to provide activities for underprivileged children in our community and of course we helped. The funds raised by paid activities enabled us to help these organisations for free or at a discount.
Around lockdown, when we were one of the very few family activities able to safely operate, it became clear that there was a need to be even more inclusive. Ben engineered and designed a paddleboard specifically to be wheelchair-friendly, and created an adapted wheelchair, a design that was later improved by the fantastic people of DaVinci.
The SEN instructor team expanded, and demand for adaptive sessions grew.
However, the nature of WhatSUP (to use all funds raised back for the expenses of running inclusive SUP sessions for those that would otherwise not have access to this wonderful sport) means that our business is not profitable, and all instructors work day jobs. Hence, we could not keep up with demand, and have started working with several amazing people across the UK, providing them with the equipment and training to be able to make SUP more widely available.
WhatSUP is a mobile SUP school, operating in Somerset and Devon. This creates variety and flexibility for our customers, but in order to be both mobile and to give all our customers some dignity when getting changed, we are now looking to fundraise for an adapted trailer.
