SURFING for a great cause returns to the waves of Sawtell this weekend for the 24th annual Barney Miller Surf Classic.

The annual fundraiser gets underway on Friday 15 March, with three big days of surfing at Sawtell Main Beach.

The fundraising event is hosted by Barney and Kada Miller and the Sawtell community, and helps to raise money for people who have suffered spinal cord and life-changing surfing injuries.

All proceeds from this year’s event will be going to seventeen-year-old Tamsyn McConnell and her family from Minnie Water on the NSW North Coast.

Tamsyn was a passenger in a life changing motor vehicle accident in September 2022, in which she was ejected from the car and now has severe spinal cord injury as well as a brain injury.

In addition to the surfing competition, a Benefit by the Sea event will be held at the Sawtell Surf Life Saving Club on Saturday night, to help raise money for Tamsyn.

Last year’s event attracted 154 surfers, and had 2500 junior ranking points on offer.

The first day of this year’s competition gets underway on Friday 15 March, with the finals to be held on Sunday 17 March.

By Aiden BURGESS