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Toby Russell, Trinity Sailing Foundation
Toby Russell of the Trinity Sailing Foundation
Down one of the many back lanes in Brixham, where the maritime history of the port seeps out of the old buildings, in an old sail loft - appropriately enough - is where you will find the Trinity Sailing Foundation. Up a steep staircase to the loft itself and into the thoroughly modern and bright office is a small team of dedicated people who work to preserve vessels from a bygone age.
But Trinity is so much more than that. Although their work is based on these magnificent vessels, it is also about the work they do in the ‘now’ with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, who may be in care or at risk of offending, who might be in rehabilitation from substance misuse or who have learning difficulties.
Toby Russell is the Director of the charity and from the outset you can sense his enthusiasm and dedication for all his charges.
“One of the core objectives of Trinity is to support the personal development of young people, particularly those who are more disadvantaged or those having a tough time in their lives. The mechanism we use is sail training. The sea is a challenging environment, one that encourages young people to get the best out of themselves. They travel to new destinations each day through their own efforts. Learning to manage a traditional sailing vessel in all conditions at sea tests the innate abilities of each individual to the limit. Few young people ever have the opportunity of finding out just what they are capable of in such a way.
“We’re also dedicated to preserving the historic vessels in our fleet. So what we have effectively done is to marry these two aspects together, as we believe these vessels are perfectly suited to their modern day role. Our vessels are not museum pieces; they are working craft, former industrial vessels that need to be out there plying the sea. Salt water helps preserve the wooden decks of these vessels, for example, so from a practical point of view, using them ensures their survival.”
The three main vessels in the Trinity fleet, hence the Foundation’s name, are ‘Leader’, ‘Provident’ and ‘Golden Vanity’; traditional, gaff-rigged vessels built between 1892 and 1924. They are all part of the National Historic Fleet – the 200 vessels considered to be prime examples of our maritime heritage.
The three came together in 1999, when the Foundation was born and now work in partnership with other organisations concerned with the welfare of young people.But all this work costs a lot of money, whether that work is the preservation of the vessels or helping the youngsters who come on the sail training courses.
“You’re absolutely right, preservation does cost a huge amount; the nature of the vessels means they do require a lot of upkeep. So what we also do is provide sailing holidays and cruises, adventure sailing for young people, RYA courses and all sorts of other sailing experiences. The revenue that comes from this underpins looking after the vessels and helps keep down the cost of sail training. The sailing holiday side of the operation is, therefore, a very important part of what we do.
“The other thing is, heritage is there to be appreciated and understood and giving the general public the opportunity to experience that is an important way of making our maritime heritage real and tangible. Otherwise, why preserve these vessels for the future?”
Trinity use these sailing experiences to raise awareness of the invaluable work they do with young people; so not only is there the trinity of the vessels in their care, there is the ‘trinity’ of heritage/preservation, working with young people and the sailing experiences, each of these aspects informing and helping the other. A nigh-on perfect example of serendipity. Although the money raised through the holiday aspect of their charity is incredibly important, it’s nowhere near enough to keep the fleet on the water and doing the hugely important work that they do.
How on earth does such a relatively small charity and, make no mistake, they are not a huge organisation, go about raising the funds to continue?
“Fundraising for the charity is an ongoing and time consuming task,” admits Toby. “As Director, my main function is that of fundraiser, although, given the size of the team, we are all often required to wear many different hats in the course of our day-to-day work.
“We look at raising funds in three main ways. For capital projects to the vessels we have worked closely with the Heritage Lottery Fund. We’ve had two recent projects; the ‘Leader’ project, completed in 2012, which was an investment of over a quarter of a million pounds replacing the decks, bulwarks and stanchions of the vessel. That scale of project is really beyond our means and coffers. Working with an organisation like the Heritage Lottery Fund, we can develop opportunities for getting big projects off the ground and carry out other work such as education and promotion. We’ve used Heritage Lottery funding to carry out similar work on ‘Provident’ and we’re now working towards completing that project too. There’s always some new project in the pipeline.”
The Foundation also run a bursary scheme that enables young people, who otherwise couldn’t afford it, to apply to the Trustees and get help to go on one of their sail training courses.
“Through providing bursaries, we can ensure that our sail training courses are inclusive. To support the bursary scheme, we have an annual programme of fundraising via events and apply to a variety of grant-giving Trusts and Foundations for their support.
"Much of the sailing aspect of the foundation’s work is based on volunteers who work as crew during the season, alongside the regular crews and skippers. Typically, these volunteers are young people looking for a career in sailing, learning all the skills involved with sailing and conserving these huge vessels. The hope is that they will gain the appropriate knowledge to progress to a full-time career with the organisation or in the industry generally.”
So it’s not only the disadvantaged youngsters who learn here. Everyone does. From carers to crew to volunteers. Interaction, self-confidence, self-belief, teamwork and friendship are all wrapped up in canvas, so to speak!
“Over the winter, when we carry out the annual refit of the vessels, many hands make light work, so yes, we call upon and need, lots of volunteers to come and help do all sorts of things. We’re always delighted to hear from people. We run a series of events where people come along and can gain experience in the traditional skills involved with the upkeep of the vessels. There are lots of opportunities to help, and because we are small, even help in the office is welcome!”
Trinity operate primarily from Brixham but their work, whether that be with other organisations or with the youngsters or the holidays, takes them to such diverse places as Oban (‘Leader’ will be away from her home port for four months this season), France and the Channel Islands, or more locally to places such as Salcombe, Dartmouth and Plymouth. Cruises typically last seven days and six nights, and the experience can be life-changing. Living together as part of a team on a traditional vessel, experiencing the sea in all its moods, is what Trinity is all about.
The dedicated team at Trinity are ensuring their future by preserving the past and making sure that at least some of the disenfranchised youngsters with whom they work have, if nothing else, an abiding memory of an experience that will live with them and, they hope, help them in their future.So if you want to get involved, learn more about these tall-ships or have the holiday of a lifetime, Toby and his team will always be more than happy to hear from you!
You can reach them by calling 01803 883355 or emailing team@trinitysailing.org
By the Dart August 2014