BSC Youth Sailing Fund
Published 12:00 on 22 Nov 2023
Bosham Sailing Club Youth Sailing Fund
Presentation by Peter Lacey after the AGM on 18th November, 2023
The Fund was set up in 2002 by John Hinton, Chris Welland and myself with the object of improving the sailing skills of BSC Cadets by the offer of a little financial help where needed. After a while John retired and sadly Chris passed away. I was joined by Lou Johns for a while and then by Nicky Chapple and Tim Reynolds. Earlier this year we decided to expand our number to keep ideas and our approach fresh and I am delighted to say that Katherine Rose and Tristram Mayhew agreed to join us. So we are now five.
Since the start we have distributed over £30k by way of the purchase of training Oppies, sails and other specialist gear or clothing as well as contributing to the cost of attending training days and national and international sailing events. All applications are judged on a merit basis and all must be supported by R/C Cadets with whom we work closely. That's the first string to our bow.
The second string resulted from receiving a couple of bequests one year both of which requested that the sums provided were to be used to assist the pupils of Bosham Primary School who would not otherwise be able to experience the thrills and spills of sailing. We have done this both pre and post pandemic by organizing taster days at the Club where the pupils selected by the school are taken out by RYA instructors to experience dinghy sailing. All this at no cost to either the pupils or the school, or for that matter, to the members of BSC. Wetsuits, buoyancy aids, helmets and the supervision are paid for by the Fund. Over the last 2 years some 36 pupils have participated. So successful has this initiative been that the school has asked whether it might be possible to go a stage further and arrange regular RYA training (to level 1 or 2) as an after-school club, with a financial contribution from the parents and, maybe, from the school. Overall this might take the form of continuing to do free taster sessions in the early autumn term with the training sessions in the summer term. Continuation, for those interested, into higher levels would be through the Club's summer holiday run courses. We are in the process of assessing the feasibility of this plan.
Funding has been achieved through donations, from contributions of all or part of the profits from Club members activities, from the sale of second-hand clothing, from contributions from successful sales of boats and equipment on the Club's Classified section and from the Boat Jumble and Auction that was held in April 2022. We intend to hold another Boat Jumble next April so if you plan to have a garage clear-out over the winter please don't throw things away keep them for us next year ! We would, of course, prefer items to be donated but we will auction any more valuable items for a fee.
Thank you.
Last updated 11:51 on 12 March 2024
