Our team

Water people

It started with a simple idea: what if everyone had better access to water? We're a small team of surfers, swimmers and dippers who believe water is vital to our health, and that joy is contagious.

 Founder & Director

Nick Hounsfield

Nick first surfed in Cornwall aged five with his dad, and has been connected to the ocean ever since. That connection shaped his path, from training as an osteopath to reimagining how access to water can transform health.

In 2019 he opened The Wave in Bristol, world-class inland surfing for everyone from Olympic hopefuls to first-timers. He championed surf therapy, adaptive and para surfing, and with The Wave Project helped bring NHS-backed surf therapy to young people living far from the coast, a UK first.

In 2020 Nick suffered multiple strokes that left him unable to speak. He calls it the hardest and most transformative chapter of his life, and it sharpened his purpose. Former Chairman of Surfing England; Honorary Doctor of Social Inclusion and Business, Bath Spa University (2025).

Founder & Director

Abby Richardson

In 2012 Abby agreed to give Nick "a couple of months" of PR support for his madcap dream of bringing a slice of the ocean to Bristol. It's been a long two months.

Still a self-confessed hopeless surfer, she's a dedicated cold water dipper, found in the tidal pools of north Cornwall all year round, and passionate about helping everyone find their own connection with water, whatever their confidence.

A communications consultant for purpose-driven organisations, Abby runs The Wave's Impact Programme, bringing surfing and blue health to more people who need it. She co-wrote Do Blue with Nick.

Let's make waves together.

Partners, collaborators and friends of blue health: we'd love to hear from you.

hello@oneblue.world