Newsletter
OYT South bulletin 4th June 2021
In this Bulletin
Sections which have changed since last time marked *
- * Volunteers Week
- * Wellbeing campaign - week 4: Learn New Skills
- * Snakes Alive! – a short story by Jo Clark
- * Andrew Millar of MDL Marinas
- * Take one minute to help us win £1,000 - nine days left to vote!
- * Prolific news - including staff and volunteer refresher training!
- Update on plans for the season
- * In this week in previous years
- 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
* Volunteers Week
It's #VolunteersWeek and Ocean Youth Trust South wants to say a HUGE thank you to all the volunteers who make our voyages and our work with young people possible - by sailing on the boat, helping with maintenance, raising funds and more. It has been fantastic to see so many people engaging with us and giving incredible support over the last year when we haven't been able to sail. Young people have lost so many opportunities due to the pandemic, but our volunteers have missed out too.
As we continue with our #SailToWellbeing campaign, it's important to recognise how volunteering contributes to wellbeing - raising self-esteem, learning new skills, making friends and above all knowing that you are making a meaningful contribution to our work with young people. We know that some former young crew members will remember their voyage all their lives, and often the fundraising that paid for their place, the vessel maintenance that helped us to sail safely, or a kind word, a bit of encouragement, or an example set by a supportive watchleader will have had more impact than we can ever know.
* Wellbeing campaign - week 4: Learn new skills
In previous issues we have written about the first three weeks 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 learn new skills. 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 learned something 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 that experience, or maybe you have 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 4: Learn new skills, to get you started:
Research shows that learning new skills can also improve your mental wellbeing by:
- boosting self-confidence and raising self-esteem
- helping you to build a sense of purpose
- helping you to connect with others
A voyage with Ocean Youth Trust South is a fantastic opportunity to learn new skills in an environment which is entirely unlike a classroom and which has something to offer to people of all abilities and interests. You can also take away evidence of what you have learned: this can make all the difference for people who struggle with academic qualifications; but even if you have plenty of exam passes, your sailing experience can help you stand out from others who may have done equally well at school but may not be able to demonstrate the breadth of different life skills which you can develop on board.
“Every interview I've had so far, I think my experiences with the charity have come up, usually I use the charity as an example of where I've been able to develop different skills like teamwork, communication, confidence and it just sparks a conversation because for most interviewers it's a unique thing to hear and they become really intrigued about it and I do genuinely think that because of that it has made me stand out in interview processes and got me the position such as my job at Primark over Christmas and so I know it sounds really cliché when we say like “oh this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it will help you in the future”, but then like I've experienced when you see it actually benefitting your life and helping you gain opportunities it does really make you grateful for all the memories and skills OYT South teaches you.” Trainee bosun Nathan, aged 17
"I learned about myself, that I CAN do things - and I could do things well on the boat. You don't feel like you're a passenger, you feel you are part of the whole voyage. it's completely different to anything you will learn in a classroom. When you're shown something, it's not given to you as a little scenario where you think "When am I ever going to use that?" You learn about angles and then on the chart you measure an angle, and it makes a lot more sense to me than at school when the teacher tells you something and you think "I'll never use that ... what do I need to be here for?" JP, who first sailed with OYT South at the age of 13 when he was struggling at school with dyslexia, and now as an adult runs his own successful business.
A 16-year old from a special school working with students with challenging behaviours, alongside a range of other conditions which can hinder academic progress, said: “My best part was conquering the fear of open water which is a bit of a problem when you are in the middle of the ocean … I think I’m gonna go and do more after this now I’ve seen I can do this, I’ll go and do more other things and then it’ll all have started from here so I’ll remember this for sort of doing everything else I’ll do.”
The Vyne School has an exceptional record of using sail training to make a lasting difference for their students, building on what was learned on board throughout the rest of their time at school. "On a few occasions I have had to remind one or two of the students how to use what they had learned on the boat to overcome a difficulty they were facing. I was really impressed to see that this experience had given them the confidence to deal with the situation in a mature and sensible manner. The students seem much happier since their trip and I believe that they will remember this for a long time to come. I was also speaking to some of our students who were on previous voyages as they wanted to come again. One boy in particular thanked me for the opportunity as it changed his life and his learning perspective. He has really put his head down and is focussing on his studies. Had he not been on the trip, I am not sure he would be as optimistic and confident as he is now." Vyne School staff member
The XL Group from Sherborne Learning Centre includes young people who are unable to attend full-time mainstream school. One 14-year old girl wrote this review of her voyage: “I was completely dreading going sailing, I didn’t know what to expect, I never thought about sailing on a boat, I always thought it wouldn’t be my thing, not many kids like me get a chance to go sailing. After a while I started to like the idea and I was excited about going but I wasn’t too sure what the crew was going to be like, or the boat. I was so worried that everything would go wrong and it would be my fault and everyone would shout at me … I truly can’t put into words how much I enjoyed myself, I will never forget it. The crew were amazing, they were so welcoming and they didn’t shout they explained and it was quite easy once they explained ... My best part was steering the boat, on the way back it was absolutely chucking down with rain. I wasn’t fussed I was enjoying steering the boat too much … I learnt so much about sailing and about myself. I feel so much happier since I came off the boat, my confidence is so much better and I don’t worry as much as I used to about doing activities outside of school with people I hardly know."
"Sail training voyages are an inspirational way of engaging disaffected or out of touch young people. They offer a structured environment enabling young people to remain focused on activities which produce positive outcomes. When young people, removed from their immediate environment, have a positive and enjoyable experience and are able to achieve tangible and real targets it allows confidence and self-esteem to grow and gives them a platform to build on and to raise their aspirations. Sail training voyages are able to make a very positive and often life changing difference to young people disengaged and in danger of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training).” Zandra Ranger, former Coordinator, Gosport Local Children's Partnership
Sail training is an ideal opportunity for learning new skills. On board Prolific, you can take part in everything from steering the boat to tying knots, navigating the vessel or helping with daily engine checks. You can pick up skills that are directly relevant to everyday life, such as how to cook a meal or how to cope with a new experience that may seem daunting at first. Once you have learned how fantastic it feels to conquer your fears or master something that seemed too difficult the first time you tried it, you can apply that experience to the next time life throws a challenge in your way. You can earn a recognised sailing qualification on board and take home a certificate to put in your record of achievement so that you can demonstrate in a college application or a job interview that you can work with others, take responsibility, be resilient, follow instructions, complete a task once you have started it, communicate clearly and more - all the skills that employers, families, schools and communities need.
Learn new skills: practical learning outside a classroom, developing skills that will make a real difference in everyday life.
Please tell us how sail training has helped you to learn new skills!
* Snakes Alive!– a short story by Jo Clark
To mark week 4 of our #SailToWellbeing campaign, here's a short story by Jo Clark on this week's theme, "Learn New Skills".
Please do share your own stories - true or fiction!
* Andrew Millar of MDL Marinas
We were terribly sad to hear yesterday of the death of Andrew Millar of MDL Marinas. Andrew was marina manager in Brixham where Prolific spent a couple of summers, and more recently we were delighted when he moved to become marina manager in our home port of Ocean Village in Southampton.
Andrew was a great friend and supporter of all of Ocean Youth Trust South's charitable work. All of us at OYT South will miss him dearly. He meant so much to us: his fun, enthusiasm, humour and care will last in the memories of all our team and the young people who sail with us. He always went the extra mile - looking for something more he could do to make sure that our time in his marinas was special. We will remember the fantastic BBQs he laid on for our crew members, and the amazing cake with a picture of Prolific.
He has our love and our thoughts are with his family and the MDL team.
* Take one minute to help us win £1,000 - nine days left to vote!
Twice in recent years we have won £1,000 from the Ecclesiastical Movement for Good Awards based on a really successful drive to get as many people as possible to nominate us. Now we have a chance to do it again – can we ask everyone to vote, to encourage friends, family, colleagues and others to vote, and to share the link as widely as possible? It’s SO quick and easy to do.
Nominate here – the link automatically selects OYT South as your nominated charity, so all you have to do is put in your own details and submit. The whole thing can be done in a minute or two.
Which means your only remaining step is to share the link with others and ask them to do the same.
Closing date 13th June. PLEASE do it – it’s one of the easiest possible ways to make £1,000 for OYT South.
* Prolific news - includng staff and volunteer refresher training!
The second of our staff and volunteer refresher training voyages last weekend took place in glorious conditions – hot and sunny! They covered safety briefings on Friday evening and then had an early start on Saturday, sailing down into the western Solent with some tacking and gybing practice. Then they hoisted the mizzen staysail:
You can see a video of the hoist here.
They went to Cowes on Saturday night and were very grateful to the harbour master’s team for finding them a place on Trinity Landing on a very busy evening:
They had dinner on deck and next day it was time for practising our man overboard recovery drill:
They also had a thorough re-familiarisation tour of the whole boat, inside and out, reminding everyone of where things are and how they work.
Huge thanks to all involved for making it such a successful weekend.
The staff team had a couple of midweek days off but were back yesterday doing rig checks and lifejacket testing. This is a time-consuming task but the immense value of regular lifejacket checks was highlighted by a recent report in Marine Industry News.
This week we have also enjoyed testing the new set of deck beanbags. The plan for this season is to run more sessions and briefings in small groups in the open air rather than with the whole team crowded into the saloon, so the beanbags will be enormously useful!
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
21-26 August, 5 nights, Dartmouth to Poole, £505 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
The age range for our voyages is 11-25 unless otherwise specified; but in practice we don’t generally have 11-year-olds and 25-year-olds sailing together so when you apply for a particular voyage we can tell you the age range of those already booked and check whether it is suitable for you.
* 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 beginning of June, 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!
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.
