On a scorching August day, Sail HYSTS hosted eighteen students and three staff from Park Community School, Havant, for a fun and educational experience going out in sailing dinghies, motorboats, learning about sea safety and the maritime environment. With limited boats, the group was split into three, rotating after each session. In each session one group sailed dinghies with the Sail HYSTS Instructors.

A second group boarded Mylor, a motorboat kindly lent by Langstone Sailing Club, with Dick Taylor at the helm. Dick even let the students take over helming for a bit! The third group spent time with Helen Littlejohn from the Final Straw Foundation, a Solent based environmental charity working to combat plastic pollution through community action, education, and collaboration. The students went on a beach tour and learned about Chichester Harbour’s history and environmental issues. Over the 3 sessions they collected 1.9kg of rubbish!

The school was thrilled, saying, “Our young people and staff members had a fantastic time! Thank you so very much for organising such a brilliant day for our young people. I can see how much planning and organisation went into our visit so thank you! Please thank Nigel and all the volunteers that supported the group. We’ve received such good feedback from Tammy and the children. It was such a hot day, so I think for the majority of the group they all coped well. Thank you for organising the Final Straw activity too.”