Children’s Sailing Trust (CST), who own Trevassack Lake on the Lizard Peninsula, used a purpose-built pontoon made from scaffold to transport 50 tonnes of plant, machinery and building materials across their flooded, 10 acre quarry.
CST offers a wide range of watersports at the lake for young people and reached out for local assistance while looking to start development of the South Bank of their lake, which is inaccessible by land. Funded by Cornwall Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy Fund, the goal is to create a fun and fully accessible learning area on the opposite shore, that complements the work they already do.
Unique scaffold pontoon used to cross flooded quarry
The challenge of accessing the other side of the lake with heavy landscaping machinery was floated to local company ScaffFloat, based in Penryn. Having assessed the unique situation, it took them just one day to build a robust 8×6.4 metre, modular pontoon using their floats and scaffolding. The successful transportation of machinery and materials – testament to the innovation of ScaffFloat and the skills of all involved, used just one, electric engine powerboat and meant the initial stages of the project could be completed. This process was then reversed for the return journey, three weeks later.

Jakie Jewell, CEO of the Children’s Sailing Trust, explained:
“We were fortunate that Diccon Rogers, Managing Director of Keynvor Morlift Ltd, introduced us to Toby Budd of ScaffFloat. His team was professional, efficient, knowledgeable, and a pleasure to work with. We were also impressed that our electric Torqeedo Cruise 10.0 powerboat managed to move such a large load!”
Toby Budd, Founder and Managing Director of ScaffFloat, stated:
“ScaffFloat is a Cornish invention that was developed and brought to market just three years ago. Since then we have completed over 100 projects and have clients in the UK, and around the world that includes the Royal Navy, Network Rail, and Port of London. It was great to be able to help out a local charity that offers such great resources and service and makes sailing and watersports accessible to so many young people ”

Exciting future at Trevassack Lake HQ
The plan for the South Bank development includes activity hubs at both ends of the site; one hub will offer exciting outdoor learning opportunities and fire pits for cooking, the other will provide children with chances to engage in arts, crafts, and calmer learning activities, all near the water. These hubs will be connected by a fully accessible pathway that passes a ‘Woo Woo Loo’ waterless toilet, a landing platform where “Floaty” docks from the other side of the lake, and a site for launching kayaks and paddleboards.
Watch this space for more exciting developments to help grow the confidence and resilience of our young people by this dynamic charity, with grateful thanks to local companies that help along the way.







