A SCOTTISH surfing resort – Europe's largest inland surfing destination – has won a global award for community impact.
Lost Shore Surf Resort won the Surf Park Community Impact Award at the 2026 Surf Park Summit in Virginia Beach, United States.
The award recognises surf parks that create meaningful and lasting change in their communities through youth programmes, regional partnerships, inclusive participation, workforce development and surf therapy.
The resort, which opened near Edinburgh in November 2024, has partnered with organisations including The Wave Project and Inclusive Surfing Scotland to make surfing more accessible to people who might otherwise struggle to take part.
The Wave Project is the UK’s surf therapy charity. It uses surfing and one-to-one volunteer mentoring to support children and young people experiencing mental health challenges, helping them build confidence, resilience and self-esteem.
In 2025, the charity delivered a six-week surf therapy programme at Lost Shore for 62 young people aged between eight and 18 from Fife, Edinburgh, Lanarkshire, the Lothians and Glasgow. Every participant received one-to-one support, while weekly Surf Club sessions provided more than 400 hours of continued support.
Lost Shore’s inland location has also allowed the charity to accept referrals from Glasgow, Lanarkshire, West Lothian and parts of inner-city Edinburgh that it could not previously reach.
Andy Hadden, founder of Lost Shore Surf Resort, said: “This award means an enormous amount because community impact was never something we intended to bolt onto Lost Shore after we opened. It was part of the reason for building it in the first place.
“What makes me proudest is seeing young people find confidence in the water, disabled surfers catch waves with Inclusive Surfing Scotland, and our facility used to support emergency service workers.
“To have that work recognised internationally is incredibly special. It shows that a surf park can be much more than somewhere to catch waves. Our ambition now is to keep widening access and show that commercial success and meaningful social impact can go hand in hand.”
Inclusive Surfing Scotland provides adaptive surfing for children and adults with disabilities, using tailored equipment and specialist support.
Accessible changing facilities, adapted water access and consistent, customisable waves also allow the charity to support both first-time adaptive surfers and experienced para surfers.
In 2025, the organisation delivered 76 sessions supporting 79 surfers. All surveyed participants said surfing made them feel more confident and happier, while improving their mental health.
Iain Donaldson of Inclusive Surfing Scotland said: “For many disabled people, the barriers to surfing start long before they ever reach the water. Having accessible changing facilities, smooth water access, and customisable waves at Lost Shore completely changes what’s possible. Supported by our specially trained coaches and volunteers, we’re seeing people who never imagined they could surf discover the total freedom and joy of riding a wave.
“Our impact evaluations have shown that surfing not only builds physical fitness, but positively impacts our surfers’ mental health and resilience. Recognition like this sends a vital message to the global surf industry: accessibility must be built into the future of the sport.”
Lost Shore’s wider community work includes Surfwell Blue Light CIC, a trauma-informed surf therapy programme for emergency service workers, a curriculum-linked Surf and STEM programme for schools and The Surf Lab, a research partnership with Edinburgh Napier University.
The award follows Lost Shore’s Innovation Award win at the 2025 Surf Park Awards.
