RYA Guidance update for Boating Scotland

RYA have updated our guidance for boating activities in Scotland in line with the latest protection levels for Covid-19. The key changes are welcome news and please do continue to follow the guiding principles and remember the guidance is to reduce the spread of Covid-19 so please stay safe. Full details of the latest update is below: https://bit.ly/RYAS_RTB For up to date information on support for clubs and training centres see below: http://bit.ly/RYASCovid

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Ocean Youth Trust Scotland has formed an all-female management team

GREENOCK based charity Ocean Youth Trust Scotland has appointed a new sailing and development manager and formed an all-female management team for the first time in its history. Peta Koczy, 26, will begin her role as sailing and development manager in the same week as the world celebrates International Women’s Day. Her appointment will mean the management team at the charity is entirely female, in an industry traditionally dominated by men. The team is completed by general manager, Hazel Wiseman, and head of fundraising and PR Ashley Mabon. OYTS is a floating outdoor education centre based at East India Harbour and it supports over 700 young people each year through week-long residential youth work voyages at sea.

Clevedon Sailing Club prepares to reopen

Clevedon Sailing Club has made the most of lockdown ahead of its planned reopening during the Easter break. Volunteers gave their time to paint the outside of the two-storey wooden-clad facility and revamp the dated interior decor, which is home to a bar built in the late 1970s. Club member, Euan Stretch, said: “A lot of work has been carried out on the clubhouse during coronavirus lockdown. It was looking a bit jaded and old fashioned, now it’s had new life breathed into it. “The refurbished bar and balcony provide one of the most stunning views in Clevedon. “In happier, non-Covid times, dodging sailors rigging their dinghies on the prom and hearing the blast of an air-horn signalling the start of racing was a regular feature of life in the town. “In the past few decades, the club has produced many national champions both at junior and adult level. “We are keen to return to normal life, welcome new members and have the chance to take to the waves again.” The club is keen to welcome more people through its doors when coronavirus restrictions permit and the group currently has 136 members, as well as 30 cadet sailors aged between nine and 16 and is also registered as an official RYA training centre. Commodore, Trevor Baker, said: “We hope to welcome new social and sailing club members again as we start to return to a new normal. “We are a volunteer-run club and can offer training and youngsters a chance to join our cadet section.” The concept of Clevedon Sailing Club was originally formed in 1947, during a conversation among a small group of sailing enthusiasts at what was then the Royal Pier Hotel. The clubhouse was finally built in 1960 following years of fighting to get the plans approved. Ian Hotchkiss, whose family’s association with the club spans more than 70 years, said: “Clevedon has always been a friendly club with a strong emphasis on the social side. “While other clubs are perhaps more racing-orientated, we have always prided ourselves on our social side and in our cadet section.”

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Portsmouth charity the Tall Ships Youth Trust hopes new rapid Covid test will help them once again set sail

The Portsmouth based Tall Ships Youth Trust provides sailing opportunities for young people to help develop confidence and interpersonal skills. Chief executive, Richard Leaman, is hopeful that a new Covid test will soon enable disadvantaged children to once again set sail. He explained: ‘We are the only industry which has not been able to operate at all for a whole year. This is at a time when the demand for this experience is through the roof. ‘The impact of the pandemic means there are a lot of children who mentally are in a bad place and would really benefit from the experience we can provide.’ With 70 per cent of staff furloughed to cut costs, the charity is reliant on donations and has set up an appeal on it’s website to raise £200,000. Richard said: ‘The longer this goes on the more increasingly difficult things become for us. We have so far raised £150,000 but we need to reach our £200,000 target to help see us through.’ Uncertainty still remains as to when the charity will be able to once again set sail. While children can return to education settings from Monday March 8 the earliest date in the government’s route out of lockdown for which people can potentially mix indoors with other households in a leisure setting is May 17. However the charity hope their investment in a new Covid testing kit could pave the way to once again getting back on the water. Richard added: ‘There is now a rapid Covid test which trials show is 98 per cent accurate. We would be able to test the children on the dockside, get a rapid result, and we could then create a Covid free bubble which would provide a way forward to get these kids out.’ The ICGene rapid Covid test is currently undergoing further trials which are being monitored by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) – the same governing body which recently approved the Pfizer and Astrazeneca vaccines. Richard said: ‘It’s frustrating the trials are taking so long to conclude as this test has the potential to not only allow us to sail again but to also open up other parts of society and to enable us to get better at living with Covid.’ The charity recently received a donation of £2,500 from the Maximus Foundation UK. Anyone who would like to make a donation can do so via the charity’s website.

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