In Memory of Dad…..who always believed
Co-director of Manuca Ltd and co-founder of Wavegarden UK.
Nick is 38 years old and lives with his family in Bristol. He has a wife and 3 young boys.
He qualified as an Osteopath with a BSc Hons degree in 1997.
Since then he has worked in the Bristol area and in 2006 he started his own clinic. He is now clinical director of one of the busiest clinics in the area with the help of his family (5 of which are also Osteopaths!) and 20 other practitioners. He is also on the General Osteopathic Council, one of the 12 Statutory Healthcare regulators. This involves strategic thinking, policy planning, scrutinising finances, educational policy reform and equality and diversity issues.
Nick has always been a surfer. He has had a passion for the sea ever since a small child when his Dad used to take him surfing at Portreath, Cornwall. Prior to having children Nick would frequently drive down from Bristol for a surf before or after work. Nick frequently starts his weekend at the beach getting waves at sunrise (before the world awakes!) . Such is his commitment.
Nick and his wife have travelled extensively in the past in search of waves and this has given him an enormous insight into surf culture worldwide and the surfing industry.
Wavegarden is an opportunity to bring together all his major passions in life:
Surfing, helping children with illness/disability, education, wildlife, ecology, surf industry and Bristol.
"I have a vision of a beautiful and sensitively designed community space where people can surf, picnic, play, work, socialise and enjoy the beautiful outdoor space that Bristol has to offer. This space should be accessible to everyone and really show that, if done thoughtfully, you can bring together urban life and rural beauty in harmony and bring benefits to the local community and ecology. Bristol historically has the gift of engineering and raw beautiful nature. The thought of blending and preserving these very precious local traditions excites me beyond belief.
Equally, the thought of not jumping into a car for 5 hours and stamping a big carbon footprint every time I want to surf, will make me feel a whole lot better about surfing." - Nick Hounsfield