Sail Training Ireland

Sail Training Ireland have been delivering residential youth programmes onboard Tall Ships since 2012 with Erasmus youth exchanges since 2015. This year we helped over 530 young people to participate on thirty voyages across seven different ships. We aim for 10% of all voyage places to be made available for young people with a disability this year we reached 19%. The charity supports the development and education of young people via Sail Training programmes onboard tall ships and other vessels. While, Sail Training is open to people of all ages, the charity’s focuses on providing the opportunity to those from a disadvantaged/under-privileged background and those with disabilities. We cater for 14-17yrs and 18-30yrs. Whilst onboard they will participate in all aspects of the running of the ship from driving the ship, to cooking in the Galley to hoisting the sails all under the watchful eye of the professional crew. In addition, we also place trained STIrl mentors onboard to support the young people on their journey. This also gives them the opportunity to explore several potential career paths, which can be used to help focus the individual. We use the outdoors and the Tallship as a classroom whilst they will learn about sailing through the experience the aim of the programme is to develop resilience, confidence, teamwork, interpersonal skills, communication, negotiation, delegation, and leadership skills. Very often this is a life changing experience for the young person. This experience for these young people provides both an opportunity and environment for personal and social development. It is not so much learning to sail, as learning from sailing, from the vessel, the sea, fellow crew members and perhaps most importantly from the trainees themselves. Valuable Life Skills such as confidence, communication, leadership, teamwork, understanding of diversity, and resilience are learnt. The group start the voyage as a collection of strangers but end it as a tight knit crew. A trainee’s first voyage can often prove to be a turning point in their lives.