Who We Are
Water Women provides trauma-informed surf therapy programmes for women who have experienced domestic and sexual trauma. Through connection with the sea, movement, and community, we create opportunities for healing, confidence and empowerment.
Female-founded and female-led, Water Women is rooted in a wealth of research around the benefits of blue space health and intervention therapies, creating a safe and supportive environment for women to reconnect with themselves and develop new skills. We are honoured to be partnered with Next Link, the domestic violence service providing support for women in the Bristol area, and through whom we receive our referrals for our surfers.
Meet the Water Women
Founded by surfer Siona McClenaghan in 2026, the organisation draws on her years of professional experience as a Social Worker and Surf Coach, alongside her own lived experience as a trauma survivor who found healing through the water. While studying to become a Social Worker, she wrote her thesis on Blue Space Health & Intervention Therapies.
Siona and Sophie have been friends since they were 5 years old. Sophie is a civil servant with a background in the humanitarian aid sector working for the UN and international NGOs. Siona taught Sophie to surf in India. It then became a much-loved way to unwind whilst Sophie was living and working in Myanmar, and has been ever since.
