Surfboard Project

To enter this year’s Caddyshack Competition to win a personalised surfboard design or gift card:

Text “Share affection, not infection” with your postcode to 0434568233. One entry per phone number.

The 2026 Caddyshack Competition Terms and Conditions can be downloaded and viewed here.

This competition was inspired by the Saltwater Healing Surfboard commissioned by Bars Behind Me.

Scroll down to view the board’s artwork and story.

Stories of Strength, Survival & Hope

Saltwater Healing Surfboard by **Bars Behind Me**

Bars Behind Me, created on the unwavering belief in the strength, wisdom, lived experience, and potential of Aboriginal women.
We recognise the deep and lasting impacts of colonisation, systemic racism, and intergenerational trauma that have contributed to the over-representation of our sisters in the justice system.
Bars Behind aims to empower Aboriginal women through transformative support, healing, and opportunity, enabling them to break free from cycles of incarceration and to rise into lives defined by strength, purpose, and dignity. We believe that through cultural reconnection, compassionate care, and meaningful opportunities, each woman can rebuild a resilient and fulfilling life and inspire others to do the same.
With a heart for justice and a commitment to change, Bars Behind Me is dedicated to providing personalised emotional support, advocacy, healing programs, and pathways to employment and training. From prison to purpose, we nurture each woman’s journey, grounded in respect, cultural safety, and the power of community.

The Saltwater Healing Surfboard is a collective cultural artwork created through the Bars Behind Me (BBM) Saltwater Healing program. It brings together the personal stories of 19 women, with each journey respectfully held within the Aboriginal symbol for a woman, recognising the strength, identity and sacred place of every participant.

Each story is deeply personal, reflecting lived experience, healing, resilience and hope for the future. While every woman's journey is unique, together they form a powerful visual representation of connection, belonging and collective healing. The artwork has been shared with women locally and across New South Wales as a meaningful cultural connection strategy, demonstrating that no woman walks her journey alone.

The central story belongs to Bars Behind Me founder, Barbara Brennan. It represents the heart and spirit of BBM and the vision of walking alongside Aboriginal women from adversity towards healing and leadership. Her daughter, Laraya Sunshine, is depicted through yellow rays of sunshine, symbolising the giver of life, hope and the light that guides future generations. Together, they hold the spirit of Bars Behind Me within them, represented by the BBM logo at the centre of their story.

Watching over the entire artwork is the family's totem, the Willy Wagtail, offering cultural protection, guidance and strength to every woman whose story is held on the board.

The Saltwater Healing Surfboard is more than an artwork—it is a living story of courage, culture, healing and sisterhood. It reminds us that every woman carries a story worth honouring, every journey deserves to be witnessed, and through culture we find our way home.