Shorebased volunteers
How you can help
Become a non-sailing member of OYT South
Annual membership is free but a donation of £36 would be welcome. You can pay by cheque (payable to “Ocean Youth Trust South” and sent to Ocean Youth Trust South, 8 North Meadow, Weevil Lane, Gosport, Hampshire PO12 1BP); or you can donate online here.
If you would like to help OYT South without going sailing, there are plenty of different roles open to you.
Become a Trustee on OYT South’s Board of Directors
OYT South is run by a Board of Directors consisting of a number of unpaid Trustees. The Trustees are responsible for setting the charity’s strategy and priorities, overseeing the management of the Trust, and ensuring good governance. The Charity Commission website has some good guidance on the duties and responsibilities of Trustees.
Trustees are elected by members at OYT South’s AGM, though it is possible to co-opt people during the year. If you feel that you have skills and experience which might be of value to the charity, please contact us.
Fundraising
If you are interested in joining our core fundraising team as a volunteer, to help us reach our target of raising £200,000 per year, please contact the office.
If you would prefer to organise some small-scale local fundraising, perhaps to help a local young person come sailing, or to buy a specific item for the boat, you can look at our fundraising ideas page – or send in your own idea to the webmaster.
If you are not confident about fundraising yourself, you can still help to create fundraising opportunities for others. For example, if you have connections with a local organisation such as a Rotary Club or sailing club, which might raise some money for us, you might be able to arrange an opportunity for someone from OYT South to come and give a talk to the club.
Perhaps you work for a company which has a Charity of the Year or makes donations in other ways – in which case you can put in a good word for OYT South. Maybe your employer supports Payroll Giving, and you can encourage colleagues to sign up? Or perhaps you are entitled to time for employee volunteering, which could be used at the refit or in other ways?
If you are a student, can you find out how a charity gets on the list for funding from Rag Week or other charitable activities?
Events
OYT South sometimes takes part in events such as boat shows, dinners, and various local activities, any of which might need volunteers. These events are always advertised in our weekly email newsletter or you can contact the office and ask if volunteers are needed for anything.
All sorts of help, skilled and unskilled, is needed at our refit (normally from November to March each winter) and maintenance days (scheduled approximately once every six weeks during the season). Details and dates are advertised in our weekly email newsletter.
Harbour support
If you live in or near any of the ports which we might visit, on the south coast of England, the Isle of Wight, northern France, the Channel Islands, or any other places listed on our voyage programme you might be available to help as needed when the boat comes in: please send your contact details to the skipper so that the sea staff can get in touch if they need anything. This may mean helping with the shopping for the voyage; collecting a crew member from the railway station; helping to source supplies or maintenance support; offering ideas for places the crew might visit ashore; helping to entertain the crew if they are stuck in harbour due to bad weather; providing a lift to hospital; or recommending the best place to find a laundrette, outboard fuel, or a birthday cake for a crew member!
Crew bookings
It is always sad when we go to sea with any empty berths; or worse still, if we ever had to cancel a voyage for lack of bookings. It doesn’t mean there is no-one who wants to sail; it simply means that many people who would have loved the opportunity are missing the chance because they haven’t heard of us.
The simplest way for shore supporters to help us is by recommending us to other people – friends, colleagues, family members; or possible future group bookings like schools, colleges, youth clubs, youth charities, sports clubs and so on. If you know an organisation which might like to send young people sailing, but you don’t feel you have all the information you need to approach them direct, then just find a name and contact details and pass them on to the office, so that we can encourage them to come sailing. But you can also send people one of our leaflets as a PDF, or print a copy to give them.
Adult voyages
You can also recommend other people to sail with us on one of the many types of adult voyage we can offer.