Mumbles Yacht Club (MYC) is in a poor financial state post pandemic. Club membership and participation has declined dramatically since the COVID pandemic. Equipment is in a state of poor repair and financial reserves are on track to be depleted by 2025 unless we increase provision and engagement in 2024. A small group was successful in bidding for funds from Sport Wales' Be Active Fund for new boats to encourage more children to learn to sail and to make progress once they've mastered the basics, but thrilled as we are, it has to be matched. The new boats can take 2 children for example which particularly supports nervous learners. Smaller sails mean more control for small children in winds. The grant has delivered a huge morale boost to the hard-working and dedicated volunteers at the Club ready to teach the next generation of children this season, but we desperately need to raise the match funding amount -otherwise we will lose the incredible £37,696 that we've been awarded.

What we'll deliver:

• 6 x RS Tera sailing dinghies
• 2 RS Feva sailing dinghies
• small sails for small children - to build confidence and self esteem
• Sails for the Topper boats to replace existing ripped and baggie ones
• training sails for the Teras - again for smaller children
• training sails for the Fevas - again for small or less confident children
• A small rescue boat for supporting the teaching

Why it's a great idea:

Many of the members of the lifeboat and coastal rescue teams started their seamanship skills learning at MYC. Mumbles is a great and demanding place to learn water safety. By training up a new generation of children they will be distracted from their digital devices and instead taught self-reliance and self-confidence in the outdoors. Helping MYC to rebuild post pandemic feels important for a coastal community village where the sea is so central to lives. Seeing a fleet of children on the water draws visitors to watch from the seawall and inspires whole families to get active. We are working hard to encourage a diverse community of people to engage with watersports and having decent boats is so important to build confidence and trust in the activity. Being able to sail in a boat with another person really encourages anxious children - these boats are double handers . Our volunteers at MYC need to attract instructors to teach. Having decent boats encourages them to work with us.

Steps to get it done:

• It's the big one! Purchasing the boats and sails!

The young children who start at sailing each year at MYC are encouraged to continue their learning as they grow older, to become sailing instructors for the next generation of children coming up through the club. During the pandemic we lost some years of people making this journey and so we are desperately short of experienced sailors who can teach. New boats will upgrade the learning and training experience. Becoming an instructor is great for personal development and self-confidence. It encourages young people to take part in community-focused activities. This helps to make Mumbles a great community of active and socially active people, many of whom will then go on to volunteer for the RNLI and Coastal Rescue service. It's a great tradition that makes Mumbles a true seafaring community.