CHILDREN'S SAILING TRUST
Impact Report 2023
Through our sailing programs, young people are offered an invaluable opportunity that sees them not only learn to place trust in adults and their peers but also experience a range of benefits spanning mental and physical health improvement, enhanced creative thinking and the cultivation of vital life skills.
Our two sites of operation are the picturesque Helford River (above) and our HQ at Trevassack Lake (below)
Our approach revolves around three core principles through which foundations we aim to not only teach sailing but also foster personal growth, resilience and a positive mindset that will benefit participants in various aspects of their lives with continued enrichment.
1. Competence
Achieving RYA Stage 1 certification, and our in house WAVE syllabus enabling positive decision-making and problem-solving skills.
2. Resilience
The ability to surmount obstacles, be it the challenges of learning to sail, dealing with the wind and the tide and having to think fast and recover. Belief in one’s capacity for improvement.
3. Confidence
We emphasise the development of self-esteem, belief in one’s capacity for growth and nurturing of trust in adults and peers. Social skills are cultivated through working in groups and taking on leaderships roles.
The difference our work makes to young people:
“These sessions are very important, when supported by CST it makes it accessible and affordable when otherwise it wouldn’t be.”
Parent Feedback
“Extremely important, especially learning the safety aspect of the sea! Living close to water!”
Parent Feedback
“Kate is adopted and comes from a background of childhood trauma and neglect. This has had a huge impact on her self-esteem, confidence, and ability to form meaningful relationships with her peers and adults. She also suffers from high levels of anxiety, which prevents her from trying new things. She was initially very reluctant to do the sailing course because it was with a group she didn’t know, doing an activity she had never done before. We encouraged her to take part and much to her and our surprise she loved it!
She has been very proud of the new skills she’s learnt and has really enjoyed getting to know some new people in a structured and safe environment. She has said that doing the sailing helps her manage the anxiety she has felt in school and gives her time to “decompress”. She feels calmer at home afterwards. Making new friends and being told she is good at a new activity has boosted her self-confidence, and this is starting to translate into her everyday life. She has loved the teamwork and camaraderie on the course and would certainly like to continue her sailing journey.”
Parent Feedback
“Finlay has absolutely loved his sailing sessions, his confidence has grown massively from these sessions and they have increased his love of the water tenfold. What an experience he has had, there aren't many children who can say they got to go to sailing lessons throughout their primary school years and this is something both our children will remember into adulthood and no doubt share with their children one day!”
It’s more than wind, water and waves that young people discover when sailing - it’s themselves, each other and about being part of a team.
“My daughter has really enjoyed the sailing sessions. It has been a brilliant opportunity for her to get out on the water and have fun, in the great outdoors, with her friends. We’re really keen she enjoys sailing, living so close to the sea, and this has helped massively as it is fun.”
“Rory was nervous and didn’t want to do it at first, he has autism and struggles with trying new things, but he ended up absolutely loving it! It really boosted his confidence to try new things and taught him to work as a team with his class friends.”
“Gained a lot more confidence in the water. She has learnt a new skill of sailing which she really enjoyed. This was amazing for her mental health, she really enjoyed learning something new, being with her class friends in a social way too, she looked forward to it every week and was sad when it had finished. It’s also helped her at home, which helps us.”
In our post-season surveys, young people, parents and teachers told us:
“Peter has found the experience a very positive one. Unable to play alongside others, share, talk openly or even enter water. Peter secured a place with the Trust and has overcome his fear of water, something which is essential in Cornwall, and has helped others to do the same. Peter’s compassion, resilience and mental well-being has developed profoundly, and he is visibly calmer and engaged. In school Peter is transferring these skills and succeeding enough to return to a mainstream setting after Christmas. A positive outcome for everyone.”
Children’s Sailing Trust Volunteer Training
Volunteers have always been at the heart of our operations and in 2023 we trained five young people who had learned to sail with us as Assistant Instructors.
Our Activities Manager Rupert Weldon reported;
“We already have some of volunteers booked on to a dinghy instructor course. I hope that for the 2024 season they will become paid members of staff working with our schools’ programme where their own education allows and with our commercial course on river and lake during holidays. Our paddlesports-trained volunteers will also become paid staff working at the lake for multi-activity sessions, paddlesport lessons and swim safety.
From a business point of view, we are developing our own instructors in a market where there is a shortage of staff.
For the instructors, they are gaining a qualification that they can use not only working for us but in future to pay their ways through university, or to travel the world. They may even make a career in watersports.”
“Volunteering with the sailing trust and gaining my Assistant Instructor qualification has given me the confidence to deal with so many situations. I have learnt lots of new skills, how to work with people of all ages, how to look after people and taken on lots of responsibility that I wouldn’t have experienced at school. I really love being part of the instructing team and can’t wait to start again next year!”
“As parents we have seen Claudie grow and mature hugely as part of the Children's Sailing Trust team. Teaching others to sail is difficult, involves interacting with people of different ages from all backgrounds and because of the inherent risks, comes with great responsibility, as does holding a powerboat license. These are qualities we value greatly and it has been lovely to watch Claudie grow up steadily whilst so obviously loving being part of the team.”
I first started sailing with CST when I was 9, having never sailed before, and I very quickly fell in love with the sport. I found the instructors really inspiring and by the time I was taking my RYA Stage 3 course, I knew I wanted to be involved in instructing as well as sailing. Having the opportunity to do my AI training at the beginning of the season this year not only lead to an amazing summer of being an Assistant Instructor, but has now meant that I had the skills and experience to take my DI qualification. I am so grateful for this.
We moved to Cornwall from London when Ewan was 3, and it was important to us as parents that Ewan be able to make full use of the coast as an incredible resource on our doorsteps. Sailing had always seemed a somewhat elite/unobtainable activity to us, but when we found CST, their team and the opportunities they offered were perfect for us. Ewan has loved every minute of his sailing journey with CST, and to have the opportunity to take this further and move towards Instructor qualifications is an incredible gift. As parents, we are beyond grateful for CST and all their funders who make these opportunities available. It really has played a very significant role in who Ewan is and is becoming as a young man.
2023 Round up in Numbers
451 | Children Sailed with CST in 2023 in our Discover Sailing Programme
78 | SEND children sailed or took part in watersports
640 | places offer through the Time 2 Move Holiday programme
213 | Holiday courses delivered
268 | private sailing lesson and paddlesport sessions
185 | Multi Activity sessions
40 | RYA Stage 1 and 2 Stage Certificates Awarded
Artwork and a letter by young sailors from Landewednack Community Primary School
Since 2007 we have taken over 11,765 young people out onto the water
In 2023, CST have been responsible for getting 2042 young people onto the water over both our sites of operation, including supporting over 600 children as part of the Cornwall Council’s Time2Move programme children attend for up to 5 hours of free watersports activity per day over the holiday periods. This provision was delivered free of charge to children eligible for Free School Meals and provided breakfast and a hot lunch as part of the day’s activities.
Our fleet of vessels now consists of 25 Optimists, 4 Zests, 8 RS Teras, 6 RS Fevas, 5 RIBS and 3 Powerboats (safety boats), 6 Hansa Sailing Dinghies and ‘Floaty’ our accessible, electric-powered (solar panels on its roof) floating classroom that can accommodate up to 15 people and wheelchair users.
Many thanks for your continued support of Children’s Sailing Trust
Children’s Sailing Trust
Register CIO 1165396
To talk fundraising, contact:
emma@childrenssailingtrust.org.uk