Jan Juc duo ready to make waves

A PAIR of Jan Juc surfers will start a month of fundraising from today to help disadvantaged surf communities across the globe.

Local SurfAid supporters James Wilson-Browne and Nathan Rivalland will spend the month of September gathering financial contributions for SurfAid’s Make A Wave 30-day surf challenge.

The pair will hit the water every day until October to assist improve the health, well-being, and resilience of people living in isolated surfing regions.

“The biggest thing for me, aside from the purpose of our fundraising, is getting our team to number one on the leaderboard this year,” Mr Wilson-Browne said.

“We led for three-quarters of the challenge last year, before we were pipped at the post by Global Surf Industries.

“But we’re excited to get back into it this year, especially after the community response we had last year, I was on a personal high afterwards and honestly it was really emotional after our SurfAid charity night.”

James Wilson-Browne said he is hopeful Team Surfing Victoria can raise the most funds for the Make A Wave Challenge among organisations in 2023.

Both Mr Wilson-Browne and Mr Rivalland were crowned SurfAid’s Humanitarians of the Year in 2022 for raising more than $28,500 over 2021 and 2022 as part of Team Surfing Victoria.

Part of the pair’s fundraising efforts include receiving whacky requests during their surfing sessions. Request in previous years range from surfing in speedos, to shaving heads, and even recreating a movie scene from Point Break.

The pair’s SurfAid Make A Wave Charity Fundraiser will headline and launch the month of fundraising tomorrow night (Saturday, September 2) at 4 Pines Torquay.

The fundraising night will be supported by more than 20 organisations, including the Geelong and Richmond Football Clubs, URBNSurf and Strapper Surf.

Mr Rivalland said last year’s fundraising night raised more than $11,000 alone and was “gobsmacked” by the community’s generosity.

Jan Juc resident and Times News Group journalist Nathan Rivalland said he was blown away by the community support in 2022.

“It was pretty emotional to have the community get around us the way they did, not only our friends and family, but everyone who came along for the night.

“We’re just two guys from Jan Juc that want to help out a bit, we love giving back in this way and we love what SurfAid stands for.”

To donate to Surfing Victoria’s Make A Wave fundraiser, head to makeawave.co/donate and search ‘Surfing Victoria’.

Head to 4 Pines Torquay’s online booking platform for fundraising night tickets.