SUTHERLAND-based timber products specialist GMG Energy is backing a local surfing champion’s ambition to compete in this month’s ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Portskerra’s Olivia McKay is the under 18s Scottish national surfing champion. Directors of GMG Energy and Melvich Bay Caravan Park have contributed to the travel costs that Olivia and eight team mates will face before they can compete against the world’s top surfing talent.
Olivia (16), who only started surfing in 2020, won her Scottish title at Brim Ness earlier this year. She said, “It is a privilege and an amazing opportunity to be competing at such a high level of competition for Scotland and I am super excited to surf in a different climate especially with my team mates. I am very grateful to Angus Forbes at Melvich Bay Caravan Park and Malcolm Morrison at GMG Energy for their kind donations and support for our team’s trip.”
Malcolm Morrison, director of GMG Energy, added, “We have world-class surfing conditions locally in Thurso and this is an important regional asset which already attracts suffers from all over the world, so it’s important that our youngsters get the support they deserve from the local community. We wish Olivia and her team mates great sport and a life-changing opportunity to compete against the best in the world. I am certain she will not let us down.”
The Scottish Surfing Federation is sending a team of the best junior surfers in Scotland to compete at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships in Brazil. The competition runs from 24 November to 3 December 2023.
The nine competitors from different regions of Scotland between the ages of 12 and 18 will have a support team to accompany them. The crowd funder to make donations has successfully reached its target of £5,000 thanks to the support from friends, family and businesses.
GMG Energy recently invested £150,000 in sawmill equipment which takes its larger timber and processes it into posts, rail, cladding and purlins, or structural roof members. The firm has also spent around £100,000 on timber treatment equipment which will open up new markets among construction companies and farm businesses which require treated and stress-tested products.
