Salcombe Dinghy Sailing (SDS) is an accredited RYA Training Centre, RYA OnBoard Centre and RYA Sailability Centre. It provides informal and formal sailing lessons, and RYA courses for children, adults, families, groups, local schools and people with disabilities.
The Wind Project (a Charitable Community Benefit Society) is its charitable arm, offering sailing lessons to people living in Salcombe and surrounding villages. Zoe Crook, RYA Principal at SDS, explains why there is such a need for this charitable society: “Salcombe and its neighbouring towns and villages are seen as holiday destinations for wealthy people. However, many children and adults living locally come from deprived and rural backgrounds. Young people are therefore very much overlooked when it comes to taking part in outdoor activity. We aim to offer inexpensive or free opportunities to encourage regular participation outdoors and on the water in a safe and controlled environment.”
The Wind Project sources grants and other awards from local and national organisations, and it has come a long way in just three difficult years. Its free pilot scheme in 2019 gave children from local schools and people in the wider Salcombe community the opportunity to try a sailing lesson. Over 200 local people, from primary school age to 65+, took up the offer.
Then in 2020 the pandemic struck, and quickly demonstrated that outdoor activity, especially for children, has a great deal of importance. As a result, when it was able to restart in 2021, The Wind Project ran a second pilot programme, building on its original success and increasing the opportunities to include:
- RYA OnBoard sailing lessons for children at six local primary schools
- An RYA OnBoard weekend youth club for children aged 8 to 15
- An RYA adult sailing club
The programme saw over 1200 attendees and provided a huge boost to local people’s health and confidence after the lockdowns. Some of the older children achieved RYA certification as Assistant Instructors or Instructors.
Now The Wind Project is building further. It recently received £25k from the People’s Postcode Lottery which will go towards delivering sailing sessions for many more local people. And it is adding RYA Sailability sessions to the existing mix, offering support and reducing the barriers to on-water activity for people with disabilities. It will be working with Activities 115, a local Kingsbridge a charity supporting adults with learning differences.