On 23rd July ten young people and two staff left The Hive and travelled to Portsmouth to embark onto our Challenger Yacht. They spent the next five days sailing around the Solent, learning rope work, knots, sweating sails as well as cooking and cleaning as they went. Luckily, they enjoyed two perfect days sailing with clear blue skies, calm waters and 15mph winds to propel them swiftly from marina to marina.
The feedback from the crew and young people alike was fantastic and we were so proud when two of our crew where asked to go back and volunteer for the event organisers, the Tall Ships Youth Trust.
In addition to this, not long after returning to the Wirral the Tall Ships Youth Trust contacted us as offered us a further opportunity to partake in another voyage. This time the challenge would be greater as we would be sailing from the south coast of England all the way back to Liverpool’s Albert Dock. This would take 6 days and involve sailing overnight which means only stopping on two occasions on the way. Three of our original young person crew were selected to take on this new challenge to act as mentors to seven new young people. These were selected not just through our membership but in conjunction with schools who had supported us so well with our ‘Inspiring Futures’ programme over the last school year, namely South Wirral High School, Oldershaw Academy and Birkenhead Park School.
This new adventure starts with a sleepover at the Hive on Saturday before traveling to Brixham early on Sunday morning. Our intrepid sailors will arrive back in Liverpool sometime on Friday 13th September before disembarking on Saturday 14th September to a jubilant welcoming committee!
We would like to thank all the staff and crew of the tall Ships Youth Trust for giving our young people such a fantastic opportunity. We will be following their adventure on social media so watch out for their updates.
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