We love to celebrate the everyday surfer, the ones that we see getting in no matter what. The committed and hooked, driven by the simple need to be in the sea. Faith is fourteen and like most others her age across the country she is experiencing a teenage years very different from the ones I remember. Unable to hang out with her peers and expected to study alone every day at home she has found that surfing is a sanctuary, an escape and a way to feel free.

When I see any teenager in the sea in the depths of winter it gives me a real sense of happiness. The cold alone would keep many folk away and It’s certainly not a common sight to see girls Faiths age in the North Sea mid December but this is where we find her. A quiet dedication, known usually to be surfing alone whilst her mum watches out for her on the beach (or at least attempts to!) I think that this is what inspires me about Faith. She isn’t waiting around for someone to surf with, she wants to surf so she does.

Introducing Faith Prior.

I am Faith. I'm 14, and I’ve lived near the coast all my life, as a toddler eating sand was my favourite hobby. I have always loved the beach and the sea and I grew up doing all sorts of water sports. My dad bought a little topper, and I named her Jessy, we would sail it at Dumfries and Galloway where we would go on holidays. I’ve got a lot of good memories from that time. He taught me to sail in the little bay, it was great fun. I began to do lots more water sports bodyboarding swimming and then began surfing which is where I am today.

I go surfing at least once a week, but it always depends all on the waves at Tynemouth. I look for calm winds in the right direction and about a 3–5-foot swell cause I find that size is fun for me. The rush before I head out is the best, struggling to get the awkward wetsuit on underneath the warm changing robe, zipping it up, giving one last stretch and then running into the freezing water. I just get a song in my head, get tumbled under the waves, dumped off the front of my board and experience extreme brain freeze, what's not to love?!

All my schoolwork is at home now so getting out and into the waves is the best change of environment, the water is definitely refreshing and the whole thing takes my mind away from school and gives me some freedom. I never have to think or care about how I look because everyone's wearing the same thing as me out in the water. This Christmas I got my first proper winter suit so there’s no stopping me getting in the 6-degree sea. I guess most teen girls would want makeup and clothes for Christmas, but that's what I really wanted. After a lot of researching I got a chest zip wetsuit although it’s difficult to get off it’s worth it for that bit of extra warmth. Surfing in the North Sea is a challenge because it is so baltic but it's where I’ve always surfed so I guess I don’t know anything else and it's worth getting in simply for the exhilaration of catching and popping up on the big waves. I have been able to solidly get up on my board and ride it towards the shallows but now I'm starting to learn to turn.

I am still very much a beginner, I started out on a cheap foamie on our yearly caravaning holidays. I loved being able to just head down to the beach and play with my friends in the sea whenever we wanted to. When there were bigger days everyone would scramble down with body boards, paddle boards and kayaks jumping into the white water. I also met my two friends whilst doing this and I still see them every year. I brought that excitement home with me, had a few lessons and have now been consistently surfing for the past year.

I really love skateboarding too. Some of my friends are skaters and I really like having people around pushing each other to try new tricks, all of us are at different skill levels so we can help each other improve. The atmosphere is great, we hang out for a day (if it's dry) at smooth spots trying new ticks and listening to music. There are similarities in surfing and skating so I’m just trying to encourage my friends to join me out in the North Sea. I would love to see more people my age surfing, it's a great way to keep fit, you get such an adrenaline rush and it’s just good getting out into fresh air. I would really love to have some friends out in the water it would be good to encourage each other and get hyped together!

I really want to one day be able to travel to all sorts of places with a group of friends in a van just having a blast going to places like Hawaii, New Zealand and Mexico it would definitely be my style of living, exploring the world and experiencing all different cultures and people. I am not wanting to become a pro at all but to just have fun and improve, meeting people along the way.

Faith Prior, 14. A New Generation