AN AWARD-WINNING charity which is helping people through a love of the sea has received a £3,000 boost.

The Wave Project, based at Belhaven Bay, is benefiting from the hard work of six S2 pupils at Dunbar Grammar School.

The secondary school held its annual youth philanthropy initiative (YPI) ahead of the Easter break.

Pupils were tasked with researching a good cause or charity before making a presentation to a panel of judges.

Paul Sutherland, principal teacher of health and wellbeing at the school, congratulated the winning team of Nuala Coates Auden, Emily Fairbairn, Verity Robertson, Gracie Stebbing, Hannah Ward and Anneliese Wishart on their success.

He said: “We had six groups in our final, with The Wave Project Dunbar being crowned overall winners.

“The winning presentation was incredible.

“It showed a real understanding of what The Wave Project does and the impact the £3,000 would have, as well as a real passion and personal interest to help their chosen charity.”

The Wave Project was also represented by a second group of pupils, while two groups supported Changes.

Presentations supporting Stepping Out and Can Do were also put to a judging panel made up of active schools co-ordinator Scott Marnoch; James Mitchell, from Artemis Investment Management; Laura Gordon, from YPI; and pupils Eva McCandlish, Caitlin Stalker and Austin Walker, from last year’s winning team.

Mr Sutherland added: “A number of the girls are already involved in the charity [The Wave Project] and more are looking to help out if they can.

“Overall, our S2s were fantastic this year, showing real maturity with engaging with local charities.

“A special well done to all our finalists, who were incredible, and to our winners.

“Their presentation was fantastic and we are excited to see the impact the £3,000 will have on their charity.”

Alison Young, regional team leader at The Wave Project in Dunbar, was delighted with the group’s success.

She said: “I was super impressed.

“I have had numerous groups over the years and had a group a couple of years ago from Knox Academy, who were a super enthusiastic bunch of girls.

“This time round, we maybe had six different groups from Dunbar.

“This group, from the start, were just so passionate about mental health and the problems going on.”