Thousands of budding women surfers join Bournemouth group

A women-led surfing group has gained large volumes of popularity within their year of starting up.

‘Sisters of Stoke’ is a Bournemouth-based social surfing club run by Martina Ellison and Lizzie Elphick.

The group has almost 2,500 female surfers and still want to grow their community.

Martina said: “I noticed that there was a gap in the market for an empowering group and for the sport.”

“There was evidently such a want for the group and this community, we grew so quickly in such a short space of time, people wanted it and that showed.”

Across their social medias where they encourage women to join, they have described themselves as ‘A vibrant community where the thrill of the waves meets the camaraderie of like-minded women!’

Following this, Martina added: “Supporting women has been the best part of Sisters and Stoke. No matter your gender or age, it’s been empowering to watch all our members face when they just give it their best go.”

The name came from Martina and Lizzie’s sisterhood. Stoke means ‘happy’ in surfing slang, putting the two together “Just stuck and made so much sense.”, according to Martina.

It’s been exactly a year since the group formed, and they have grown to offer a variety of social activities such as: Surfing lessons, workshops, movie nights and many more.

The lessons are a recent addition to the group, Martina said: “not everyone wants to get in the water straight away.”

She added: “We are mainly focused on beginners, but we have got so many different levels of surfing within the group. We want to keep growing with teaching others.”

They plan in the future to carry out excursions abroad for the group, to experience new waves outside of Bournemouth.

Martina pushes the message that anyone can and should join Sisters and Stoke.

She said “Surfing itself is factually beneficial for your mental health. When you’re in the water, all you can think about is that next wave.”

“When you’re surfing, it’s just you, your board and the waves. It truly gives you a purpose.”