A sailing taster for young carers

Paralympic Gold medallist Helena Lucas and an honorary member of the Royal Southampton, is to be an ambassador for the Yacht Club Trust which is to stage its first sailing event on Saturday.
That should see ten young carers from Romsey benefitting from a taster sailing session with Southampton Water Activities Centre on Saturday, November 19.
The group of Romsey Young Carers will get their taster in two Sonar fixed keel yachts, for a morning sail from the Activities Centre and finishing up at the Club’s pontoon in Ocean Village.
The RSYC Trust is the charitable arm of the Club and aims to make boating more accessible to everyone, regardless of circumstances.
The Club has for many years supported various charities through its Commodore’s Charity initiative. The Commodore of the time selected the charity the club would support during the period of his or her tenure. Many of these were linked to sailing and water borne activities.
In 2015, the RSYC Executive agreed to expand the charitable efforts into an RSYC Trust. Since then the Club formed the charity, developed its capacity and organised fund raising. The Trust is run by  totally by volunteers .
The aim is to promote the advancement of amateur sport, in particular the provision of facilities, equipment and assistance, including the awarding of grants, to enable and encourage participation in sailing and associated activities for the benefit of the public in the south of England. 
The aims however are not limited solely to advancement of sailing but include other associated activities such as kayaking, paddle boarding and model yachting.  In addition to the awarding grants or awards RSYC will develop sailing and instructing capability at Gins clubhouse on the Beaulieu River to enable those activities to be provided in house.

The first session for the group of Romsey Young Carers will include a briefing at the Activities Centre and a final reception, award of certificates and refreshments at the Ocean Village clubhouse.