Trinity House has six Regional Grants Committees to support regionally-based projects that meet with Trinity House's charitable objectives.
Here is a snapshot of the support we have provided recently.
Felixstowe Coast Patrol & Rescue
East
Felixstowe Coast Patrol & Rescue are an independent lifeboat that has been operating since 1997. Serving our community by ensuring that locals and visitors can enjoy our beautiful coastline and rivers in safety. Our dedicated volunteers give up their time, and in some cases put themselves in danger and stressful situations to ensure the safety of all. Our remit is almost never ending, as we're tasked by a number of different agencies, but we also attend many public engagement events and spend a lot of time visiting schools and other groups to teach water safety. To ensure that our crew are highly trained and equipped to deal with any number of situations takes a lot of time and money. We rely on sponsorship from our supporters, but equally important are injections of cash from grants, such as we've received from Trinity House. We try to ensure that all money goes towards lifesaving, in this case we'll be using the award from Trinity House to put our volunteers through externally sourced first aid training, ensuring that we always have enough competent crew who have the ability to provide pre-hospital treatment, and ensure that we're fulfilling our role to the best of our ability. We sincerely thank everyone at Trinity House for their continued support.
www.FelixstoweCoastPatrol.co.uk
All Aboard Watersports
West
All Aboard Watersports aims to make watersports accessible to all in the community. Traditionally, young people from disadvantaged communities and/or ethnic minorities within areas of Bristol have had little opportunity to experience sailing activities and are not aware of potential career opportunities.
The team run a funded programme in conjunction with the RYA, which offers young people from these backgrounds the opportunity to experience sailing, through taster days and more regular follow on sessions where basic sailing techniques are taught either through RYA courses or using a more informal approach. The programme also provides up to twelve young people, who are considering their career options, the opportunity to undertake watersports training and introduces them to different types of work in the maritime industry such as instructing, working on super yachts and boat building. They also have the opportunity to start volunteering at All Aboard, as a first step towards dinghy instructor qualifications.
The West Regional Committee awarded a grant to enable the second part of the programme to run in Autumn 2023 and Spring 2024 equipping the young people with RYA qualifications and the opportunity to explore future careers.
Young people from the DET Community group in Bristol enjoying their RYA PB1 and 2 courses with All Aboard Watersports
The Pioneer Sailing Trust
East
The Pioneer Sailing Trust is an Essex based charity which provides learning opportunities for young people through maritime experiences. Initially their focus was on the recovery and restoration of the sailing vessel ‘Pioneer’ which was completed in 2003. Since then, the team have operated Pioneer as a sail training vessel, taking on average 1000 people to sea each year. The Trust believes that young people aged between 16 years and 25 years old should be given an opportunity to develop, learn and grow no matter what their circumstances or background.
In parallel to their work with Pioneer, the team also operates the boatyard, Harker’s Yard, which opened in 2012. They offer apprenticeships in boatbuilding, centred around the restoration of a range of historic vessels and the construction of traditional rowing gigs. The Trust employs their own apprentices and delivers training on a block release basis to other apprentices on the boat building apprenticeship. Many of the apprentices knew about the Trust through sailing on Pioneer. Since 2011, the Trust has designed and built traditional East Coast rowing gigs, which forms the basis of the practical training delivered at the Yard.
The East Committee awarded a grant to the Trust to support their staff training programme for 2024 which will enable them to continue to make a lasting and positive difference to young people’s lives.
A family carers group on board Pioneer.
CatZero Humber
North
CatZero Humber is a charity dedicated to the support of people of all ages, including young people, families at the point of crisis, and Forces veterans, helping them into employment or training, or simply supporting them as they navigate their way through tough periods in their lives. The organisation looks for the barriers preventing people from turning their lives around, ultimately helping them to find ways to help themselves.
CatZero’s unique way of working for the last decade, through a whole range of activities, tailored plans and by using the organisation’s 72-foot Challenge yacht, has helped hundreds of people back into education, training, or simply on the path towards their goals.
The Challenge yacht is an important tool for the organisation, used to help participants with teambuilding, self-confidence, and cooperation. For some of the younger participants, the experience puts them into an environment that takes them away from peer pressure and the often-difficult confines of life back home.
The yacht is used for short, long, and exciting fundraising sails and underpins the values that are learnt on CatZero’s programmes. There is a packed sailing schedule, when the season begins in March of each year, with voyages ranging from four hours in duration to eight days. There are 97 sails currently on the schedule for 2023, which is likely to increase. Fundraising sails offer the opportunity to corporate partners to experience a ‘taster’ voyage, while learning about CatZero and the work it does across the Humber region.
It is of crucial importance that the yacht is safe and well maintained, which is why a grant from Trinity House for the servicing of life rafts during a 2022 refit was gratefully received. It is vital that the vessel is kept in top condition, not only for the safety of everyone on board but to ensure the yacht’s continued use by CatZero in the years ahead.
CatZero currently works in the areas of Hull, Grimsby, and Scunthorpe. For more information, visit www.catzero.org
CYE Sailing Centre
South east
CYE Sailing Centre is a multi-activity residential centre in Chichester Harbour, providing water sports and adventure activities, for over 2,000 children and young people and around 800 adults each year.
A crucial element in our successful delivery of this programme is our continual development programme for 10 trainees each year, mostly gap-year students aged 18-25. Over the winter they are trained to instruct and lead activities, from basic skill through RYA qualifications. Over the summer season, the trainees put their skills into practice and grow from assisting at to leading outdoor activity sessions. Throughout the season they are given opportunities to lead-grow-develop. They are debriefed by a senior activity leader after every session, and have regular overall personal progress reviews.
We are extremely grateful to have received a Trinity House Regional Grant towards our trainee development programme. Lucy, one of the Centre’s Assistant Lead Instructors said “Over the past 2 years I have become a senior instructor in sailing, and a level 2 coach in paddling. These 2 qualifications enable me to take groups of all ages onto the water, teach them how to sail, kayak or canoe for the first time, or enable them to develop their skills and gain qualifications in both disciplines. Personally, gaining these qualifications has taught me so much. Understanding the difference between teaching on a subject and then building a relationship with someone to help coach them best to their individual needs carries so many versatile skills. I have mainly noticed growth in my communication and people skills. For example, using empathy and observation to understand how an individual takes in information and learns is a big part of being a coach. Then using this knowledge to better communicate to someone really helps them achieve, and enabling others to achieve is something I grow more and more passionate about. Developing these new skills in myself every day and finding new areas of coaching I love is having a big impact on how I am shaping my future.
“I have recently taken up a new role, I am now a manager to the trainees who are here for their gap year at CYE. I strongly believe that the skills grown in me through my previous qualifications have equipped me well for this role. I am still learning but the ability to communicate well and use empathy to help develop people has been an amazing base to learn from, both on and off the water.”
Roseland Youth Sailing Trust
South west
"We are indebted to Trinity House for their financial support which has helped us to deliver free sailing lessons to 18 schools in Cornwall this year, including children from some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country. Learning to sail gives young people the gift of confidence, self-esteem and skills of value in whichever career they choose. Together we are creating opportunities, changing lives and transforming communities."