Friday the 13th of September was a lucky day thankfully for Yeadon Sailing Club (YSC) as we were announced as a runner-up in the national Sunsail Funding the Future competition, securing £2,000 towards our mission of making sailing inclusive.
Being selected as one of 3 finalists from 61 submissions from across the UK, was an incredible achievement for YSC. However, it also highlights that we still have a long way to go on our journey to make grassroots sailing accessible to all.
Our new Pay What You Can membership approach has been a great success. But with that success comes new challenges. When you attract people from communities and groups with no sailing experience or family support to draw on, you have to start from the very beginning. This can be a big challenge for a small part-time club run entirely by volunteers.
“Winning this prize is a great help in our mission, and a big thank you to Sunsail, and well done to the other finalists. I’m sure it was a tough decision for the judges with so many deserving causes.
Our club volunteers have worked extremely hard this season helping new members, young and old get out on the water for the first time.
Like many other clubs, we’ve offered free taster sessions over the years, these are great ways to engage future members, but unless there is a drive or connection to sailing in your family, its hard to get hooked.
By lowering the bar to entry and trusting people to give what they can afford, we’re trying to work from the ground up and rebuild our community’s connection with sailing. It may take a few generations, but we’ve been around for nearly 100 years, hopefully we’ll be here for another 100!”
Tim Burnett, Membership Secretary
This year, our free Tuesday training programme for members has been so popular that we’ve had to implement a waiting list so we could provide the best experience possible with the equipment and people we have. We want to ensure our new members progress as quickly as possible so they can become the coaches and supporters of the future, helping to ensure the sustainability of the sport.
We’re in it for the long game – a sustainable future for grassroots sailing built on the foundation of inclusivity and we’re delighted with this award, however, it’s been a bittersweet week for the club. In addition to receiving this award from Sunsail, we received a similar amount from another local club that has had to close.
Denholm Sailing Club was an identical club to YSC, and they have had to make the tough decision to close, donating what money they had left to other local clubs. This is a blow to grassroots sailing in our region, something we cannot ignore and clearly shows that we need to innovate to stay afloat.
Later this year, we’ll be sharing the lessons we’ve learned from our experience with Pay What You Can membership, aiming to inspire others to come up with new and exciting ways to give everyone the chance to enjoy the sport we love.
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We’re attempting to turn the tide of access to sailing – are you with us?