Newsletter
OYT South bulletin 21st May 2021
In this Bulletin
Sections which have changed since last time marked *
- * Wellbeing campaign - week 2: Be physically active
- * And I would run 500 miles… – a short story by Jo Clark
- * Prolific news
- Update on plans for the season
- * In this week in previous years
- * The history of the charity – episode 6: the 1980s
- * John Goode
- Financial appeal
- Painting of Prolific - prints available to buy!
- Trans Awareness – zoom session
- Online training courses for volunteers - safeguarding and more
- Passports – be prepared
- Raise funds for OYT South if you're shopping online!
- OYT South social media - please get involved
- Branded clothing
- Raise And Sail - website for anyone looking to raise money to come sailing
- New readers’ welcome and introduction
- Receiving this newsletter by email
* Wellbeing campaign - week 2: Be physically active
Last week we wrote about the first week of the five-week #SailToWellbeing campaign which we are running alongside other members of UK Sail Training. Based on research promoted by the NHS and MIND, it looks at five key steps you can take to improve your mental health and wellbeing. Every one of these five steps is a natural part of a sail training voyage: you really can #SailToWellbeing.
The steps are:
1: Connect with other people.
2: Be physically active
3. Take notice and pay attention to the present moment
4: Learn new skills
5. Give to others
So this week we want to hear your stories about how sailing with us helped you to be physically active! We’ve already got some examples but we are looking for more. This is a campaign for young people, volunteers and staff; it’s for people who sailed with us in the 2010s but also those who were involved years ago – as far back as the 1960s. If you have been on a voyage and been active in a way that made a positive difference to you, please tell us. You can respond to any of our social media posts, or if you prefer, you can email webmaster1@oytsouth.org and we can post something which won’t identify you. Maybe you have a photo which captures activity on board, or a story to tell?
We all know how hard Covid-19 has hit many people’s mental health and wellbeing. Sail training offers a positive way forward: anyone who has sailed with us will have seen the five steps in action on board. Please help us to demonstrate to those who haven’t yet tried sail training that they too might be able to #SailToWellbeing.
Here are some examples of #SailToWellbeing 2: Be physically active, to get you started:
Being active is not only great for your physical health and fitness. Evidence also shows it can also improve your mental wellbeing by:
- raising your self-esteem
- helping you to set goals or challenges and achieve them
- causing chemical changes in your brain which can help to positively change your mood
A voyage with Ocean Youth Trust South is a fantastic opportunity to be physically active: hoisting sails, grinding winches, working on deck in the open air.
OYT South works in partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. A young man aged 20 said this:
The Rotary Club of Hitchin Tilehouse sponsored voyages for young carers: “The difference that a trip like this makes to these youngsters is wonderful to see ... The team spirit that this trip generates is a joy to see: getting their hands dirty, cooking in the ship’s galley or doing night watch gives them a real feel-good factor. They push themselves to limits they didn’t know they had.” Sue Manning, Youth Activities Chair
HMS President (London’s Royal Naval Reserve Unit) raised funds for disadvantaged young Londoners to sail. Geoffrey (12) said: “It was so amazing when watchleaders teach how to drive the helm and when we were pushing and pulling every day and you know that gave me some muscle. I was very happy I went to the beach for the first time and it was so fun and we covered David in sand”.
There is something active for everyone to do on board - from the most sporty people to those who really don’t enjoy competitive sports and team games, as well as people with physical and learning difficulties. And all that activity has a practical purpose and makes a real difference: you put your back into hoisting a sail - and now we’re going fast to a new port! Or you didn’t think you could climb onto the bowsprit but with encouragement and support, you found you enjoyed it – and saw a dolphin right underneath you!
Please tell us how sail training has helped you to be active!
* And I would run 500 miles... – a short story by Jo Clark
To mark week 2 of our #SailToWellbeing campaign, here's a short story by Jo Clark on this week's theme, "Be physically active".
Please do share your own stories - true or fiction!
* Prolific news - starting staff and volunteer refresher training!
Staff and volunteer refresher training begins this weekend – in windy conditions! - and everyone is working hard to get ready! The jib is now on. Georgia is doing all the weekly and monthly checks. The windlass has been fuller exercised. Solar panels have been fitted for new ventilation fans. The rigging is being tensioned. Dave Heffer has been finishing the last of the floorboards. Fred Cole visited with some stuff for the boat. We’ve also had a delivery of bulk-cleaning products, chosen to be good for the environment; and we’d like to thank MSOS for discounts on two non-contact thermometers for pre-voyage screening.
We also received a new ensign but it was just a bit bigger than we expected and needs to be exchanged!
Update on plans for the season
After all these months, it really is beginning to seem as though there is light at the end of the tunnel, as we put ourselves in a position to ensure that we can get back to running voyages again as soon as we can do so safely and within the guidelines.
Despite news headlines about a possible end to restrictions after 21st June, a lot of the small print seems to mention “with mitigations” or “with appropriate precautions”; but no official details have yet been published. At this stage, therefore, we are taking bookings for much smaller groups (usually 8 young people rather than 12 or 15) which would allow us to operate with much more space on board – for example, using alternate bunks rather than having people too close. These priority berths have virtually all been filled by clients who had voyages cancelled last year; and in most cases, group bookings will want to fill any extra spaces on their voyages if we are allowed to take more people.
This leaves the voyages open to individual bookings, where the initial 8 spaces have all been filled but we can have a reserve list of up to 7 more people in case we are allowed to increase the numbers. This decision may be made at short notice, but if you would like to reserve a place on the waiting list for one of these voyages, please email webmaster1@oytsouth.org:
18-23 July, 5 nights, starting and finishing Brixham, £505 per person
1-7 August, 6 nights, starting and finishing Brixham, £595 per person
8-14 August, 6 nights, Brixham to Southampton, £595 per person
27 -31 August, 4 nights, Poole to Southampton, £405 per person
2-7 Sept, 5 nights, starting and finishing Southampton, £505 per person (age 16-25)
23-26 October, 3 nights, starting and finishing Southampton, £310 per person
* In this week in previous years
While the charity is waiting to return to normal voyages with young people, it is good to keep reminding ourselves about the value of our charitable work, the life-changing experiences and fantastic fun and friendship on our voyages and at our vessel refits and other activities. If you have a treasured memory of sailing, working or volunteering with us, or a tale of a voyage you will never forget, or a funny story, please send it to webmaster1@oytsouth.org and we'll publish the best in future editions of this newsletter.
We have now completed a full twelve months of round-ups on what we would be doing this week in a normal year, so if you want to see what we are usually doing at the end of the third week of May, you can find it here. It’s a great reminder of how much effort so many people have put in over the years to ensure that we can keep helping young people develop the skills to succeed in life!
* The history of the charity – episode 6: the 1980s
You can read episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, episode 4 and episode 5 in previous newsletters, covering the idea that became the Ocean Youth Club; the stories of the founding vessels, Theodora and Duet; the developments of the 1960s and 1970s; and the Robert Clark ketches. This week: the 1980s. Thanks as ever to Emma Ellis for all the research from the 50th anniversary brochure.
In 1980 Sir Thomas Sopwith completed a transatlantic voyage to Boston, carrying a commemorative message to the United Nations, and joined in the 350th Anniversary celebrations of Boston.
Grania, a Nicholson 55, was launched specially to serve in Northern Ireland, after the project raised £105,000 in ten months in the worst recession for years. This photo shows Jenny Habens naming Grania, with OYC co-founder Chris Courtauld seen on the far right of the picture:
An OYC Rally took place in the North West and ended at Liverpool with the opening of the Merseyside Maritime Museum and the commissioning of Spirit of Merseyside, a replica Liverpool Pilot Schooner which was to be associated with the OYC fleet on completion in 1982.
Sir Thomas Sopwith went by road on a lorry to Recro 80, the Barclaycard Leisure Festival, in the middle of England:
OYC Australia was established using the 70’ foot sloop Buccaneer, and the Club was also affiliated with the Adventure Ship Huan in Hong Kong.
1981 was the 21st anniversary year of OYC, celebrated with a rally in Gosport. There was also a fleet sail-past at the Southampton International Boat Show. Meanwhile the voyage fees increased to £15 a day! And a centralised bookings system was established at Gosport Head Office which moved to premises in the Bus Station.
In 1982 OYC operated in six areas with nine boats: Eastern area - Master Builder; Southern area - Scott Bader Commonwealth, Samuel Whitbread, Sir Thomas Sopwith; South Western area - Falmouth Packet; North Western area - Francis Drake; Scotland – Taikoo; Northern Ireland - Grania. Meanwhile Duet sailed in both Eastern and South Western areas – and won the STA Race from Vigo to Southampton on her 70th birthday.
In 1983 OYC and the Norfolk Boat (Sail Training) Ltd jointly bought Arethusa, which had been originally built by OYC for Shaftesbury Homes and Arethusa. She was renamed Spirit of Boadicea, for the Eastern area.
In 1984, construction began on the North East vessel, a 70’ steel ketch designed by Laurent Giles Ltd, working on Tyneside using manpower from the Youth Training Scheme which had been set up for school leavers at a time of high unemployment. Meanwhile Greater Manchester Challenge was under construction by the Greater Manchester Maritime Trust.
Sir Thomas Sopwith sailed to Gibraltar; Master Builder to Norway and Samuel Whitbread to Spain.
In 1985, OYC's 25th anniversary year was under the Patronage of HRH Princess Alexandra. There was a Silver Jubilee Round Britain Rally by the whole fleet: eleven vessels, 35 ports visited, 2,800 miles sailed, with 1,500 crew members. One of those was the charity’s current Business Manager, then a teenager, who sailed on the London to Brighton leg in Duet. She remembers terrible weather delaying the start and the fleet stuck in London for a couple of days living on donations of any fish left over each morning at the local fish market after all the shops and restaurants had bought what they needed for the day. It’s easy to dream of the deep ocean when you sit on the deck of a sail training vessel filleting flying fish … even if you are in the middle of London! There were also parties with Grania’s musical Irish crew who all seemed to have guitars or tin whistles. Finally the fleet got going, still in poor weather, and on the last day Duet ended up standing by another vessel in difficulties until the RNLI could reach them – by which point Duet was hours behind the rest of the fleet. Arriving in Brighton very late at night, they found that the whole fleet had stayed up, planning to welcome them with gin and tonic (it was an over-18 crew) and cheese on toast; but they had drunk all the tonic. Neat gin and cheese on toast was still very welcome after a wet and tumultuous passage.
The Silver Jubilee rally proved to be part of a record year with over 5,000 members taken to sea throughout the season (and 65,000 young people since 1960). A national appeal was launched with a target of £2.5 million to replace the Robert Clark ketches (some of which by now were 13 years old) with a fleet of 10 new steel Shipwright 70 class ketches to be built on Tyneside by AMARC (TES) Ltd.
In 1986, Greater Manchester Challenge was completed to be operated out of Liverpool; and James Cook, the first of the Shipwright 70 class, was near completion for the North East, and a second, John Laing, under construction for the South.
In 1987, OYC operated twelve yachts - taking 5,454 young people to sea. James Cook was commissioned, and Sir Thomas Sopwith was sold to OYC Australia. Jenny Habens was awarded an MBE for her marvellous and sustained efforts for the Club over its 27 years.
In 1988, OYC introduced a staff training element into its aims, to enable prospective volunteer sea staff to gain qualifications and experience in small boats. A training flotilla of three Hunter Duettes was operated from the piles in the Hamble river. A Skipper Training Scheme to develop professional skippers was also created.
In 1989, Samuel Whitbread and Grania were sold, keeping the OYC fleet at ten vessels.
Jonathan Cheshire was appointed Director – and remains a great friend and supporter of the charity to this day. And Francis Drake undertook a winter Caribbean voyage, the ‘Great Caribbean Adventure’.
There will be more chapters of this history in future issues of this newsletter.
* John Goode
We were sad to see the announcement this week of the death of sailing instructor and writer John Goode. John was a kind and supportive friend to the Ocean Youth Club and to OYT South over many years. He attended a number of our events including the OYC’s 50th anniversary party in 2010; and each year he arranged discounted Boat Show tickets for our members.
Financial appeal
Big thanks to
all our supporters and friends who have responded with such kindness and generosity to our appeal over the last year. We are not thanking everyone individually in the bulletin only because quite a few people have asked to remain anonymous; but we are truly grateful to all of you. Everyone who has contributed and is still contributing is playing a huge part in getting us through this long period with no voyage income, and ensuring that the charity will be strong enough to do important work with young people who will need us more than ever, as soon as we can safely sail again.
See here for how to make a donation - you can contribute by cheque, phone or PayPal, but please do something if you possibly can. Don't forget that if you complete and return a Gift Aid form (pdf) we can claim back tax on your donation.
Painting of Prolific – prints available to buy!
Our friend, Gosport-based marine artist Colin Baxter, has prints taken from an original painting of Prolific available for you to buy.
The unframed prints will measure 370mm x 230mm plus border. They will be numbered and signed, and will cost £45 if you can pick yours up in Gosport, and £50 if you need it posted (they will probably come rolled in a cardboard tube). Order here:
Anyone outside the UK wanting to order a copy, please email us.
Trans Awareness – zoom session
On the evening of Wednesday 16th June at 1830, we will have a zoom session called Trans Awareness: The Basics, delivered by the charity Gendered Intelligence. This arises out of discussions at the volunteers' training weekend in February where a number of people said this was an area where they would be keen to learn more.
Increasing our knowledge of and language around gender will help us support young people (and each other) better and more confidently whenever this topic arises, importantly leading us to be a more trans-inclusive organisation.
The session will be 1hr45m long, with opportunities to ask questions too. If you haven’t already registered your interest, please email hollyvint@oytsouth.org.In recognition of the lack of voyage income for more than a year, we would encourage those who can afford it to make a voluntary donation toward the cost of the event using this link.
The session will:
- Explain what ‘trans’ means and describe the diversity of those who might use the term.
- Introduce key concepts crucial to understanding trans people
- List the main legislation relating to trans identities
- Outline ways an organisation can work towards being trans-inclusive
- Provide links to further resources and help
Gendered Intelligence says: “We are a trans led charity working directly with some 500 young trans and gender questioning people from diverse backgrounds across the course of a year, primarily through our youth groups and 1:1 mentoring services. Their experiences inform our wider work. All our trainers are professional trainers/facilitators who are also trans identified, and who have extensive grassroots trans-community experience.”
Online training courses for volunteers – safeguarding and more
If you know you have certificates which will expire this year (or have already expired), we have new EduCare licences available – if you would like one to complete your courses, either pay through the website link or get in touch with the office and we’ll talk you through what’s needed - we can tell you what’s expired and what’s still valid, and what dates apply. If would be great if everyone can
get on and ensure all qualifications are up to date so we don’t have to chase people for important pieces of paper at the last minute!
See previous issues of this newsletter for details of online RYA training which may be of interest.
Passports – be prepared
Since 1st January 2021, British passport holders travelling to the EU will need to ensure that on the day you travel, your passport has at least 6 months left, and it must also be less than 10 years old (even if it has 6 months or more left). If you’re planning to sail with us once we get up and running again, do make sure your passport is in order in case your voyage might be able to sail to France. We won’t be sailing outside the UK until the situation with Covid seems more secure, but it would be a shame to get to that point and then find a long wait as everyone else is suddenly needing to renew their passports too: you might find it convenient to get it renewed while travel isn’t possible so that you don’t have to send it off for renewal later on!
Raise funds for OYT South if you're shopping online!
"What a fool I was!" says Mark Todd.
"For ages I've seen in the bulletin that Easyfundraising is a good way to raise money for charity, but I never got round to doing anything about it, and when Caz told me how easy it was, I didn't listen.
I thought it might be a hassle, or that I'd have to remember to do something when I bought stuff online, or that it probably wasn't really worthwhile.
This week I finally got round to it and it turns out it's a REALLY EASY way to raise money for the charity I care about ... and I definitely should have done it sooner.
It takes a minute or two to sign up; you can do it on a desktop, tablet and/or phone, and you can install a widget that flags up when a donation is available. Once that's done, imagine you're looking to buy - say - a rainbow unicorn: just put "rainbow unicorn" in your usual search box, and the list of results shows you which sites come with donations, and how much. It's up to you what to pick and whether to accept the donation from the site, but a huge choice of sites will offer a donation - and it doesn't cost you a penny.
I don't know why I didn't do it sooner ... but if there's anyone else who has been like me and just not got round to it, PLEASE click the link now and sign up!"
OYT South is also registered with Amazon Smile which makes donations to us when people shop - Amazon will donate 0.5% of the net purchase price on eligible purchases. If you ever shop with Amazon, do have a look - once you pick Ocean Youth Trust South as your chosen charity and start using https://smile.amazon.co.uk, you don't need to do anything further, and all your other Amazon account settings remain unchanged.
OYT South social media – please get involved
One of the simplest ways you can help us while we can’t sail is to keep looking at our social media pages and share, retweet or like as many posts as possible. This all helps to make sure other people hear about us too – and the more we can keep alive the interest in our charitable work, the more people might help us now or start to think about sailing with us in future. Maybe you’ve got a community group, a local page, even a street WhatsApp where members might like to know that you are involved with a charity that could be of interest to them?
We are on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/oytsouth - please do give us a Like! If you were friends with John Laing on our old page (https://www.facebook.com/johnlaingsailing please do move to the new page now.
We are also on Twitter @oytsouth so please follow us!
And Instagram @oyt_south
And LinkedIn Ocean Youth Trust South
Please note that OYT South has a policy that our adult staff and volunteers should not make or accept individual online friend requests with crew members aged under 18, or vulnerable adults. Crew members can use the sites to stay in touch with the boat and with each other, but not with individual staff and volunteers.
Branded clothing
OYT South branded clothing available - please see here. You can buy hoodies (in a wide range of colours), fleeces, short- and long-sleeved t-shirts, baseball caps, beanie hats, polo shirts and more, all with OYT South's logo!
Raise And Sail - website for anyone looking to raise money to come sailing
Raise And Sail is a section of this website full of ideas, information and support for young people who would like to raise money in order to come sailing with us. Huge thanks to Fiona Keen and Emma Burrows for putting Raise And Sail together. We hope you will find it useful - let us know how you get on as we can add success stories and new ideas to the site in due course.
New readers' welcome and introduction
If you have recently registered your interest in OYT South, welcome to our newsletter, which is sent out almost every week, normally on a Friday, and is also copied onto the website.
If you have just started receiving this newsletter by email, it is because we believe you have signed up and consented to receive it - perhaps by emailing us to ask for it, completing a form on our website, or adding your email address to the book on board where people can sign up to receive news, as well as leaving comments. If this was a mistake or you simply decide you want to stop receiving the newsletter, just press “reply” to the email and write UNSUBSCRIBE at the top, or email webmaster1@oytsouth asking to unsubscribe.
Each week the newsletter includes a wide range of news from the boat and from the charity, including details of voyages available for young people; adult voyages; opportunities for adult volunteers both ashore and afloat, and much more. We find that while some people read the bulletin almost every week, many others dip in and out, and read it when it's convenient - which is why some items are repeated. New items are marked with an asterisk * so that if you did read it last week, you can see which sections you can safely skip.
Please feel free to join in any OYT South activities - nothing here is restricted to long-standing members or people who already know one another. New people are always very welcome!
If you need an introduction to the work of OYT South, you should find a lot of useful information on our website. But essentially, we are a registered charity (no. 1079959) which exists to offer adventure under sail as a personal development opportunity for young people aged 12-25, from the widest possible range of backgrounds. A high proportion of our young crew members are disadvantaged or deserving in some way: many of these sail in groups organised by other charities, youth clubs, special schools and so on, and will fill the bulk of our term-time voyages. But those from more fortunate backgrounds are also welcome to sail, either in groups or by coming as individuals on a mixed voyage. Every year we run a variety of shorter local voyages plus longer adventure trips - sometimes including Tall Ships races during the summer holidays. If you are aged 12-25 and hoping to sail as a crew member, take a look here - and this section is also useful for adults who are thinking of organising a voyage for a young person. Adults planning to organise a full group voyage should also see here. Adults who want to sail themselves should see here.
We have a professional staff skipper and engineer, but our watch leaders are normally all volunteers, who combine sailing skills with an interest in working with young people. You can find more information here - how the system works, how to join, and profiles of existing staff and volunteers.
To volunteer for OYT South ashore, please see here. To help with the vessel's annual refit, see here.
It is a very expensive business maintaining a boat, running an office and employing staff. If you want to help us, please become a member of OYT South. Or see here for information on making a donation.
If you have any questions, please do email - or contact the office.
Receiving this newsletter by email
Many thanks to all those who have given consent to receiving this newsletter by email. If you are not currently getting it by email and would like to, please just click here Newsletter Subscribe and press "send", or email webmaster1@oytsouth.org.
