In this episode of the Purpose Highway Podcast, Scott Mason talks to Rob Sanderson, founder and director of Surf Waves Enjoy Life (SWEL), a nonprofit that uses surfing as a way to help uniformed personnel decompress and deal with their mental health.

Having served as a police officer for many years, Robert knows the mental burden that service personnel take on in their line of work, and how being in touch with one’s spirituality is often the only thing that can keep one’s sense of humanity alive. Robert is also deeply conscious of the growing disconnect between police officers and the very communities that they serve.

To this end, Robert hopes that SWEL can help more active and retired security personnel decompress and improve their mental health. Additionally, Robert has started to help forge new relationships with the wider community by partnering inner city youth with former cops and first-responders and taking them to beach trips and surfing lessons.