ufacturer is appealing to people  to get on board a fund-raising appeal to help vulnerable children in Africa.

Brad Rochfort, who makes bespoke surfboards, helped collect nearly 250 boards from surfers around the UK in aid of Surfers Not Street Children, which supports and empowers children living in South Africa and Mozambique who are at risk.

The surfboards will last the organisation for two years but the charity now needs donations so it can carry on its work.

Surfers Not Street Children has now released a new film titled The Board Drive on YouTube to tell the story of how one surfboard in a shed kick-started the full-scale board-drive in the UK, “that brought hope and smiles to hundreds of children living in tough and challenging environments”.

The charity fuses surfing, mentorship and care and has dedicated local teams that include social workers, carers, lifeguards, surf coaches and administrators.

The charity says its programme has transformed the lives of thousands of children “with an impressive portion of participants going from street children to becoming coffee baristas, life-savers, surf shop staff, restaurateurs, surf coaches and even pro surfers”.

The 248 surfboards Brad helped collect were sent on a container ship to Durban in South Africa. The trip was organised and paid for by Down the Line surf shop in Hayle. The surfboards were in transit for 102 days and arrived in July.

Brad, who is originally from South Africa, said: “It really is a heart-warming story born in Newquay and has given hope and smiles to those beautiful children.

“We’d love to support this charity as much as possible and the best way is telling people about their amazing work.

“A £30 donation will feed one child a nutritious lunch at the charity surf club every day for a whole month.

“This is something so simple that anyone can do, and would make an incredible Christmas gift this year.”

Tom Hewitt, the founder of Surfers Not Street Children, said: “A board donation of this magnitude is huge for us as it ties down the next couple of years and takes what could have been a major problem for us in terms of having equipment.

“So we are extremely grateful to everyone in the UK who has rallied round and made this Board Drive possible.

“The children in the programme have inspired me.

“I have learnt so much from them.I’m fortunate to work with great volunteers who are dedicated to the children.

“We have had children who have gone on to become lifeguards, work in surf shops and restauranteurs.

“To see a child you knew who was maybe standing at the traffic lights begging and high on glue aged eight or nine, to know they are now self-supportive and independent and had a chance to work through their traumas and addictions in their lives is special to see.”

λ Anyone who can help Surfers Not Street Children can visit surfnotstreets.org