BUDE Surf Veterans have benefited from Sainsbury’s Bude ‘Charity of the Year’ scheme.

Sainsbury’s Bude donated £1,570 to Bude Surf Veterans.

Colleagues including deputy manager Pete Smith, PR ambassador Lesley Blake-Bertram and store supervisor Justine Trott officially handed over the donation at the An Mor hotel, where Bude Surf Veterans were having refreshments following their regular Thursday morning surfing session.

This group is dedicated to Service Veterans (Military and Emergency Services) and their families, in which they use the group mantra of Surf Together, Grow Together, Heal Together, to help the transition into civvie street.

Whether the transition is physical or just completely overwhelming, they are there for each other, including partners and children. The team includes qualified lifeguards and longstanding surfers and volunteers who bake cakes for Après Surf.

The donation will be used to support their work with service veterans and their families from the local area and beyond, including twice weekly surfing sessions at Summerleaze Beach.

They also recently held a four-day ‘residential’ for those with PTSD. In addition, the funds presented an opportunity for them to partake in planned adventure training activities.

Bude store manager Peter Keighley said: “Our store is at the heart of the local community and it is important we can play our part to support it. When we heard about Bude Surf Veterans and their story, we just wanted to help out as much as we could.”