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Plea for a new fundraiser DART SAILABILITY IN URGENT NEED OF AN ENTHUSIASTIC AND RESOURCEFUL VOLUNTEER. D
art Sailability is a common feature on the River Dart in normal times, bringing
sailing and powerboating to disabled people from South Devon and the whole of the south west of England. Currently based at Noss- on-Dart Marina on the Kingswear side of the River Dart, their aim is to enhance the physical and mental well-being of people of all ages and disabilities through these activities and have been doing so for over 23 years. With a total fleet of thirteen craft, including a 7 metre landing craft for wheelchair users, Hawk 20 and Drascombe Longboat sailing boats, six Hansa 303 dinghies and five mixed RIB and rigid powerboats, the charity can offer a wide variety of experiences and has the ability to teach both sailing and powerboating to instructor level as an RYA Centre of Excellence. In normal times, two half days of activity is provided each week from April to October, in addition to periods of training for volunteers in safety drills on the water and disabled passenger handling on shore. The charity is administered by a
Board of Trustees which includes both disabled and able-bodied volunteers and the day-to-day running is carried out by the management team, led by the Principal (Ian Wakeling) who is the chief liaison with the RYA and a dinghy and powerboat instructor. Members of the team include the Chief powerboat and sailing instructors, training officer, safety officer, engineering officer, membership and social secretaries
and publicity officer (currently vacant). Dart Sailability managed to
provide a limited service to members once lockdown restrictions were eased and offered river trips on the landing craft and Drascombe whenever the weather and tides permitted right up to the end of October. With 80 volunteers and 40 disabled sailing members, the charity relies upon donations from all quarters to support its activities. Generally, these will come from Trusts
the charity relies upon donations from all
quarters to support its activities
and Foundations who advertise their availability and will normally cover specific tasks, such as a new RIB, a personnel hoist to enable disabled sailors to enter dinghies or some new radios. Other funds can come from the donation of yachts no longer required by their owners who want to see the proceeds go to a worthy cause; these have been sold by the charity acting as brokers, thus avoiding incurring mooring and insurance costs. The fundraising is normally
carried out by a volunteer who is preferably also a trustee as the board deals with the financial aspects of the charity. Unfortunately, the current fundraisers (a married couple) are having to stand down due to
the pressure of their full-time work which has increased dramatically due to the pandemic. Dart Sailability is, therefore, in urgent need of an enthusiastic and resourceful volunteer fundraiser. There would be a lot of advice and help available from previous fundraisers, RYA and other advisory bodies and there is the possibility of access to training courses in fundraising if the applicant requests. Additionally, there are always
opportunities to volunteer for other positions in the team or simply to help on shore or afloat, the advantage being that volunteers get time afloat at virtually no cost and those without qualifications can gain them under the charity’s tuition.
If interested in taking on the role of fundraiser, please contact the Chair of Trustees, Neil Strevens by email -
chairman@dartsailability.org or by phone 07974 725416. For further information, please go to www.
dartsailability.org To volunteer for other positions, email
info@dartsailability.org
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