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Volunteer has given children a 'love of surfing'

Chris CraddockJersey communities reporter
BBC Michelle is wearing a light-coloured T-shirt stands on a sandy beach in the foreground, facing the camera. In the background, four people in red shirts practice balancing on orange surfboards laid out on the sand during a surf lesson. The beach stretches to the shoreline under a clear blue sky, with a historic stone tower visible on a small rocky islet in the distance. BBC
Michelle Dawson has been nominated for the BBC Radio Jersey Make a Difference Awards for her work at Jersey Surfboard Club

Parents have said a volunteer has given their daughter and other children "a love of surfing".

Michelle Dawson gives up her time to help run Jersey Surfboard Club and its academy at St Ouen's Bay and has helped hundreds of children get into the sport.

That includes Nick and Rebecca Dodds' daughter who attended the club with her school friends.

Dawson has been nominated for the BBC Radio Jersey Make a Difference Awards for her work.

Nick and Rebecca are wearing sunglasses stand together on a wide sandy beach. The ocean and a clear blue sky stretch behind them, with the shoreline visible in the distance.
Nick and Rebecca Dodds said Michelle Dawson had helped their daughter learn how to surf

Dawson helps with the administrative work of the club and ensures that all the children have goody bags, which helps them feel welcome.

Rebecca said: "Michelle runs this club so amazingly, she makes everything so easy.

"She obviously loves surfing and they love it because of what she gives them."

She added: "She has absolutely made a difference... I hope she just keeps doing what she's doing".

Nick added: "You can tell that she loves her sport and she's giving that love to the girls and the confidence that she has with the surfing means that they're confident to get in the water."

Four young surfers in black wetsuits stand on a beach holding surfboards. The ocean and blue sky form the backdrop, with the group facing the camera on wet sand near the shoreline.
Cayden, 15, Jessie, 16, Seija, 15 and Lucas, 16, all go to Jersey Surfboard Club Academy

Children at the club have also praised Dawson's work with them.

Cayden said: "It's so really beneficial to have someone like that because it just like encourages you to come back."

Jessie added: "She's put on loads of events for the surfboard club and she organises loads of things."

"Michelle's really important, she's really kind and she's been here ever since we all started surfing," Seija said.

Lucas added: "She just makes everything fun and makes you want to do it again."

Michelle is standing in shallow ocean water photographs surfers with a smartphone on a sunny day. Several people in wetsuits and with surfboards are in the waves, with white surf and a clear blue sky in the background.
Dawson is often seen giving encouragement from the beach to young surfers

Dawson started helped with Jersey Surfboard Club more than 10 years ago and has worked on its committee for a number of years.

She said: "I think surfing is more important than most people appreciate.

"There's nothing like it, even if all you do is float around on the board for a bit, which is pretty much actually all I do."

She added: "I have looked at various award winners from years gone by and I'm not entirely sure that me jumping around on a beach going 'let's go surfing' falls into the make a difference category but it's lovely to be nominated."

The winner of the BBC Radio Jersey Make a Difference Award will be announced in September.

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