RYA Cymru Wales - Long term legacy for sailing scheme
by Hamish Stuart, RYA Cymru-Wales 16 Sep 2017 08:05 BST
13 September 2017
Youngsters from a Black Minority Ethnic background will get the chance to fall in love with sailing long term thanks to the All Afloat scheme which has been running in Cardiff.
A short term programme to introduce the youngster to sailing will turn into a long term opportunity for some of the participants, through memberships of local yacht clubs.
"It has been a fantastic opportunity for the youngsters to get involved in and they have really appreciated the chance to get out and sail on the water, they have thoroughly enjoyed it," explained Cardiff BME sport officer Simon Lu.
"Even myself coming down to watch over the last few weeks, from the first day when they went into the taster sessions at Channel View to what they are doing now, they have come on leaps and bounds.
"They have shown some talent and some really enjoyed what they are doing and progressed with that and it has been really good to see.
"There are a couple of the guys progressing really well and showing enthusiasm for the sport so we are discussing with RYA the possibility of them sponsoring year long memberships at the local yacht clubs.
"Giving the opportunity to go into mainstream sailing activity will be a fantastic achievement in terms of the legacy and sustainability of the programme we are running.
"It is definitely important to have sustainability and legacy. We have seen progress from never trying sailing to doing it really well.
"The talent they are showing and then to have the legacy opportunity – there are not many National Governing bodies or projects that have that legacy aspect, that sustainability.
"People try things for six weeks or ten weeks and then they just fall way because the barriers that exist for BME communities are not really broken down, whereas this project and the solutions we are looking to come up with will smash those barriers away.
"They will be able to have long term experience of sailing to fall in love with the sport, so it is a very rare opportunity in my experience - but something I will try to achieve with other NGB's going forward as well."
For further details about Welsh sailing and watersports, please go to www.rya.org.uk/rya-regions/rya-cymru-wales or www.facebook.com/RYACymruWales or follow on Twitter @RYACymruWales. You can also keep up to date by following RYA Cymru Wales on Instagram - www.instagram.com/rya_cymru_wales