The Clare Foundation sponsors the Tall Ships Voyage
Twenty young people from Bucks set sail on an adventure with the UK’s largest youth sail training charity as part of the Tall Ships Voyage.
The Clare Foundation were delighted to provide the Tall Ships Youth Trust with an £18,000 grant to provide these children with a truly remarkable experience of a lifetime.
The Clare Foundation fully funded two four-night voyages with TSYT. The first voyage for young people aged 12-15 set sail from Portsmouth on Monday (23rd August 2021). The second with youngsters aged 16-25 left on Monday 6th September 2021. (23rd August 2021). The second with youngsters aged 16-25 left on Monday 6th September 2021.
The individual young people were all nominated for the residential voyage by four Buckinghamshire-based charities, Action4Youth, Lindengate, The Healthy Living Centre and The Oasis Partnership.
Lindengate
Dan Bicknell from Lindengate commented:
“Self-esteem, confidence, teamwork, communication, leadership, problem-solving, multitasking, developing ability to manage personal and social relationships, time management, empathy.
The week we spent with Tall Ships surpassed all of my expectations. It was truly amazing to see the development of all the young people involved, from not knowing each other on the first day, to being the best of friends by the last. They have all gained invaluable transferable life skills, with teamwork, communication, problem solving and leadership being at the forefront. They also went through great personal development, each clearly gaining confidence within their ability as well as within themselves. There is so much more to sailing a boat for a week than the sailing, cooking, cleaning and living all together in such a small space are all massive parts of the experience. This has greatly helped them develop their ability to manage personal and social relationships, something that is instrumental in life.”
Charlie Powell, Founder & General Manager, Lindengate Charity also commented:
“Giving these young people the opportunity to realise their potential, onboard a Tall Ship, was a fantastic experience of a lifetime that they will never forget. Over the course of 5 days, our young people learnt a variety of new skills, under supervision and were encouraged to work as a team to ensure that the Challenger 3 ran smoothly, carrying out such tasks as hauling ropes and operating winches, as well as cooking meals for each other. They learnt to work as a team, building self confidence and resilience, which are transferable life skills. I know our young people would like to thank Mike Clare and The Clare Foundation for making this possible.”
Lindengate 
Lindengate 
Lindengate
The children from Lindengate had such an amazing experience, here’s their feedback –
April – “It was the adventure of a lifetime and I’d do it again in a heartbeat”
Alice – “I have enjoyed this new, challenging and exciting experience and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to come on this trip”
Daniel – “I really enjoyed this 4 day journey, I met many new people, did many new things and had an experience like no other.”
Action4Youth
Jenifer Cameron, CEO, Action4Youth commented:
“What a great experience these young people have had, both our staff and the participants! At Action4Youth we believe personal challenge is key to growth and confidence building and this very special experience has certainly provided challenge as well as the opportunity to make new friends and work has part of a close knit team. We’re very grateful to The Clare Foundation for this special and most generous opportunity.”
Action4Youth 
Action4Youth 
Action4Youth
Healthy Living Centre
Marcela Heime, CEO, Healthy Living Centre commented:
“I would like to thank The Clare Foundation for the sponsorship given to our work experience students from Pebble Brook School (school for children with moderate learning difficulties) It really was a wonderful experience for them, this residential provide them with exciting and challenging opportunities to develop new skills and interests, which gave them a great feeling of empowerment and independence.”
Healthy Living Centre 
Healthy Living Centre
We also had some fantastic feedback from the youngsters from the Healthy Living Centre:
“We set sail to Weymouth where I went with my mum and step-father. We sailed across the sea and I liked sitting at the front. In Weymouth, we went to an arcade and I won a prize for a sweet. Then we went for a stroll and probably went pass the apartment we stayed at with my parents. For dinner we had fish and chips and chicken burgers.”
“I had a good time on tall ships I went on this big boat for a week and I helped with all the stuff like putting the sail up, to move it away from ports and to move it into ports…My favourite part was when we went around Weymouth and I don’t have a bad part. If you ever have the chance to do this, then I say do it as it is a good experience”.
The Oasis Partnership
Colin McGregor-Paterson, CEO is thrilled to have given the young people they work with the opportunity –
“We really appreciate the opportunity that The Clare Foundation has given to many of our young people. Sailing with the tall ships is such a unique and enjoyable experience – one that many people would not usually get the opportunity to get involved with. The youngsters were all so very positive about their experience, listening to the radio interview from Amy bought tears to my eyes as she was so passionate about how the experience had changed her life.”
The Voyage
The young people will join a professional crew of four sailing staff, who will guide them through their adventure at sea as they sail from Gunwharf Quays Marina in Portsmouth and along the Jurassic Coast.
Onboard one of Tall Ships Youth Trust’s 72ft Challenger yachts, the young people become vital members of the sailing crew as they take on a number of tasks including, hauling ropes, operating the winches and helming. Under supervision, they also prepare and cook all their own meals below deck in the galley kitchen.
During their voyage, the young people wrote daily blog entries to document their experience and time at sea. Voyager blogs can be seen on TSYT’s website.
Will’s journey aboard the Tall Ships Voyage:
Take a look at Will’s journey on board the voyage. Just two months after major brain surgery, Will was back on the water for a five-night voyage. “Will is a excellent example of how the vital youth development work empowers all young people to ‘sea beyond their horizon’ with a life-changing voyage at sea, no matter what barriers they may be facing!”
The Clare Foundation, work together with these groups and other key local stakeholders, partners, businesses, and charitable organisations to facilitate and create positive change in Buckinghamshire. We are thrilled to have supported local charities and these young individuals throughout this extraordinary journey.
Mike Clare, Founder and Chairman of The Clare Foundation
“I’ve had a long-held belief that providing young people with the opportunity to have adventures, get into the wild/open and meet other young people enables them and gives them a more functional outlook on life. Julie and I are delighted to be working with Tall Ships Youth Trust and charities in Buckinghamshire to make this happen.” Mike Clare, Founder and Chairman of The Clare Foundation
“It has been a truly terrific opportunity for the six charities to collaborate and ensure that the 20 young people from Buckinghamshire had a great time on a sea adventure and the opportunity to meet different people, develop new skills and have experiences. We were delighted to work with the OASIS Partnership (Colin McGregor Patterson), Action4Youth (Jenifer Cameron), Lindengate (Charlie Powell) and the Healthy Living Centre (Marcela Heime) to identify those who would most benefit from this marvellous chance. The stories and photographs set a great scene.” Martin Gallagher. CEO. The Clare Foundation
You can find a full report of the voyage here.
For more information about the Tall Youth Ships trust, head over to their website or take a look at the voyager blogs!
