Sailing charities come together to provide an inspirational sailing project
by 1851 Trust 28 Jun 2015 16:05 BST
28 June 2015
The official charity of the America's Cup World Series Portsmouth, The 1851 Trust is to
partner with The Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation to deliver inspiring sailing taster
sessions to school children in Portsmouth and the surrounding areas throughout the summer
holidays.
The Portsmouth Sailing Project is funded by Travis Perkins Plc and will be
hosted by
Portsmouth Sailing Club from Monday 27 July until Sunday 30 August 2015. The project has
a target of providing sailing taster sessions for up to 1000 young people aged 9-14 years
during the 5 weeks of operation.
Through using specially adapted boats this project will also allow both disabled and able
bodied young people to sail together during the 3 hour sailing session. This unique and
exciting project aims to inspire a new generation into sailing, breaking down barriers to
participation and create an opportunity for young people of diverse backgrounds to take up
the sport in the local community.
This will be achieved by providing the initial taster session for free and then signposting the
opportunities to attend affordable sailing sessions with local providers, giving them the
chance to attend regular sessions and progress in the sport.
Based at The Camber, Old Portsmouth, next to the home of Ben Ainslie Racing, the
temporary sailing centre will be officially opened at the America's Cup World Series event in
July 2015 and provide an opportunity to grow grassroots participation in sailing.
Speaking on behalf of the 1851 Trust, CEO Alasdair Akass said "The 1851 Trust is a charity
of huge ambition and one of our core objectives is to open up sailing to the widest possible
audience of young people. It's great to be partnering with the Andrew Simpson Sailing
Foundation on the Portsmouth Sailing Project, who have such an impressive record of
delivering transformational sailing experiences to young people nationally and
internationally, to give youngsters from the Portsmouth and the surrounding area the chance to set sail on one of the most iconic stretches of water in the world. We are so grateful to
Travis Perkins for making this project possible".
John Carter, CEO Travis Perkins; "Travis Perkins is committed to supporting charities
including WhizzKidz, which carries out amazing work for disabled children. Now through our
funding of the Portsmouth Sailing Project, operated by the 1851 Trust, we are really pleased
to extend our support to more young people in the south of England through a series of
sailing experiences. We are delighted that we can also involve WhizzKidz in this project,
enabling up to 30 young people with disabilities to have their very own sailing day on 20th
August 2015."
Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation Trustee and Patron of the 1851 Trust, Sir Ben Ainslie
added "Having two great charities working together to get young people from Portsmouth out
on the water and experience sailing is just fantastic. Next week the BAR team will move to
our new home on The Camber, and we are very much looking forward to seeing lots of
young people out in boats over the summer. It's great that two charities with similar
objectives of helping young people get onto the water, to experience this amazing sport, are
able to do so during and after one of the most memorable sailing events Portsmouth has
ever seen".
www.1851Trust.org.uk