Festive fundraising for youth sailing charity Challenge Wales

YOUTH sailing charity Challenge Wales has launched its ‘Jump Aboard’ fundraising pack to help raise funds to enable young people to experience Wales’ Tall Ship. The sail training vessel, which uses sailing to teach young people life skills to improve their employment prospects, subsidises Welsh residents aged 12 – 25 years and needs to continue to raise funds during winter to ensure young people continue to have the opportunity to jump aboard in 2015. Although the Challenge Wales fundraising pack gives lots of ideas to raise funds, with Christmas on the horizon the Penarth-based charity is keen to focus on recycling from stamps (from Christmas cards) clothes (ideal if you are losing weight after Christmas and don’t want to throw clothes away) and unwanted small items (such as old Christmas presents from Christmas past). Vicky Williams, volunteer and trustee, said: “Passing on unwanted items to us is a great way for us to raise funds and also helps avoid waste going to landfill.” This week also sees the charity launching its first fundraising 2015 charity calendar, featuring some amazing photos of the charity’s journey over the last five years since it launched, capturing beautiful seascapes, wildlife and landscapes. The aim of the calendar is to raise awareness of the work that Challenge Wales and its army of volunteers does. The highlight of the fundraising festive season for Challenge Wales is its Festive Sail and Curry sailing day on Sunday, December 28, from Penarth Marina, an opportunity for people regardless of their sailing experience to blow away the winter cobwebs and try something fun and exhilarating and a very different Christmas present. To get involved in Challenge Wales’ festive fundraising activities visit www.challengewales.org or contact them on 029 20 220 266.