Published on: 20 April 2022
UKSA has been awarded a maritime grant from the TK Foundation worth over £600,000 over the next three years.
The Isle of Wight based charity provides life enhancing water-based adventures, education, and world-leading maritime training and aims to increase accessibility and diversity in the maritime industry. It will use this important grant to fund a number of beneficiary places on its Superyacht Cadetship and Sea.Change Foundation programmes for those who would not otherwise be able to participate.
The TK Foundation’s mission is to enable disadvantaged youths to succeed and promote maritime education and safety. It invests in programmes which enable young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to maximise their potential through pathways such as education, training and life skills with a view to becoming self-sufficient. It also aims to promote knowledge of the seas and oceans to strengthen maritime safety and security.
The funding will enable UKSA to welcome 77 teenagers onto its Sea Change Foundation Programme each year. This week-long residential course gives them an introduction to the water and informs them how to progress into the maritime industry.
Alongside this, the grant will increase the percentage of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who can access the UKSA Superyacht Cadetship. Of the 2021 cadet intake, only 16 percent were from the ‘most deprived’ areas of the UK (based on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation). The charity realises that those from vulnerable backgrounds require additional support during their training and funds from the TK Foundation have enabled the hire of an additional Recruitment and Industry Lead to increase the number of graduates which move into employment within two months.
The grant will also enable the purchase of new keel boats to ensure the charity maintains a top-quality fleet of equipment to meet safety requirements.
Susan Karlshoej , Managing Director of the TK Foundation said ‘I am delighted that The TK Foundation was able to make this award as we continue our long-term partnership with the UK Sailing Academy. In addition to a substantial contribution towards the development of facilities at the centre, this multi-year grant demonstrates the Foundation’s commitment to offer maritime training and support to young people considering a career at sea.’
Amy Sweeting, director of development and fundraising at UKSA said: “We are incredibly grateful to the TK Foundation for its commitment to support UKSA over the next three years following an already successful relationship with us built on a great foundation of our shared values.
“Children and young people are the most acutely affected group as a result of the pandemic with a multitude of factors playing a part. This includes increased financial and emotional strain, lack of peer interaction and reduced outdoor time all having had an overwhelming impact on young people’s mental health.
“Children and young people who were deemed vulnerable before the crisis have been especially affected and we must do all we can to aid the recovery and provide the best opportunity of a future for them. Investments into clear pathways into employment have never been so important and the maritime sector provides access to long-term career paths.”
For more information on UKSA, please visit www.uksa.org