Horizons, a charity which teaches disadvantaged and disabled young people in Plymouth to sail, has received a £5,000 grant to fund the purchase of new sails, including mainsails, jibs with sun strips and spinnakers, for its sailing boats.
The donation was provided by the Santander Foundation, which offers Discovery Grants to UK registered charities for projects that help disadvantaged people in local communities.
Horizons was set up in 1991 to give disadvantaged and disabled young people from the inner-city communities of Plymouth the opportunity to learn to sail. Through the experience of water-based activities, Horizons aims to provide learning and educational opportunities that increase self-confidence and improve the social and practical skills of young people.
The charity provides children in Plymouth who live near to water, but do not have the chance to go sailing due to financial or social disadvantage, the chance to sail as part of a group and, once their skills develop, take solo trips. Many of the charity’s participants go on to advance their sailing skills and obtain valuable Royal Yachting Association qualifications.
Simon Mace, Operations Manager at Horizons (Plymouth), said: “Thanks to the support of Santander our Hawk 20 Keelboats will now have a new lease of life. Our keel boats are an essential part of our fleet and each year we use them to take out over 2,500 children. It always surprises us how few of these children have actually been on the water before, especially as we live in Britain’s Ocean City. It is a real privilege for us to introduce so many young people to the sport and it is even better to see so many of them return to continue sailing with us during our club sessions.”
Elaine Bleazard, Branch Manager at Santander’s Plymouth branch, said: “The Santander Foundation makes hundreds of donations to local projects every year with the aim of assisting organisations, communities and vulnerable people throughout the UK. The staff at our branch know the great work Horizons does in our community and we hope this grant will help them in their support for local people.”
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Notes to Editors:
Media Contact
Leonora Burtenshaw at Santander
Email: Leonora.burtenshaw@santander.co.uk Tel: 020 7756 4543
Annette Molloy, Business Manager at Horizons
Tel: 01752 605800
About Horizons (Plymouth)
Horizons is a registered charity set up in 1991 to take disadvantaged and disabled young people from the inner-city communities of Plymouth afloat. Through the experience of water-based activities that would normally be beyond their means Horizons provide learning and educational opportunities that increase self-confidence and improve social and practical skills.
For more information please visit: www.horizonsplymouth.org
Santander Foundation
The Santander Foundation is at the heart of the Bank’s community activities, providing grants to small charities and social enterprises working with disadvantaged people to fund skills, knowledge and innovation projects across the UK. Discovery Grants of up to £5,000 are available to support three types of activity:
- Explorer: improving people’s knowledge
- Transformer: supporting skills and experience
- Changemaker: innovative solutions to social challenges
Over the last five years, the Santander Foundation has provided £26 million in funding to 13,914 UK charities through Discovery Grants and Staff Matched Donations. For more information please visit: www.santanderfoundation.org.uk
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 30 June 2018, the bank has c24,200 employees. It serves around 15 million active customers, via a nationwide branch network, telephone, mobile and online banking; and 64 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.