Tall Ships Races; An Epic Summer Adventure

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Challenge Wales is taking part in the Tall Ships Races Series, sailing around 1,200 miles and crewed by young people aged 16 – 25 years.

Before the Tall Ships Races started proper, we had a small group of young people join us for our Falmouth Mini Voyage which took us from Falmouth to Plymouth and back, and who then experienced the frivolities of the crew parade, took part in the inter-crew sports and had the opportunity to climb one of the traditional square riggers in port.

Team Challenge Wales after the crew parade!

Leg 1 of the Tall Ships Races was to take Challenge Wales from Falmouth to Acoruna, across the Bay of Biscay and after we said goodbye to those who joined us on our mini voyage, we said Ahoy and gave a big Welsh Challenge Wales welcome to our new group of young people; individuals from different parts of the UK and overseas.

Storm Betty and lots of fog hampered the start of the race, although it gave the Challenge Wales team and other participants an extra day of training and getting used to living on a boat, but the race started a day later.

The race was a virtual start (now starting on 19th August), which meant Challenge Wales had a few hours to cross the start line. That first day was a bit bumpy thanks to the remnants of the storm but in the middle of the night the wind dropped, which although was welcomed by some of the crew didn’t help our speed in the race!

The Tall Ships Races is an amazing youth event bringing people together from all over the world, and it isn’t just about sailing, it is about the whole experience and being close to the natural world. After the first day was over, we asked those onboard what was the favourite things they’ve seen; seeing dolphins topped the list but was closely followed by “seeing the bioluminescence at night where the water would glow before the dolphins break the surface” while others were amazed at how bright the shooting stars were.

Our second night at sea, saw Challenge Wales becalmed at 0300hrs and got overtaken by another vessel in the race, but the wind made an appearance at 0800hrs this morning so we are second in Class C/D with quite a few of the boats still way behind us.

Challenge Wales is the orange boat in the race

You can follow the progress of Challenge Wales and the Tall Ships fleet here.

Where is the Tall Ships Race heading to and can I still jump onboard?
Yes, you can still be part of this event and jump onboard! Challenge Wales is currently racing from Falmouth to Acoruna (Spain). The next leg starts Acoruna (26th August) and finishes in Lisbon (2nd September) and is a Cruise in Company which involves sailing with the fleet and visiting a couple more ports. The final race is Lisbon (2nd September) to Cadiz (9th September), a short race where the Tall Ships event will finish. Challenge Wales is sailing from Cadiz to Cardiff, via A Coruna for her homeward bound voyage (join Cadiz 9th September and arrive in Cardiff for 22nd September) and this return leg gives you access to the Tall Ships event and involves being part of the farewell Parade of Sail. There are a few berths available on each voyage. Voyages up until 9th September are for young people aged 16 – 25 years. The trip from Cadiz to Cardiff is for 18 – 75 year olds and is suited for those with some sailing experience and ideal for those working towards their Day Skipper, already have their Day Skipper are wanting to build their sailing skills and get some sea miles under their belt. To enquire email the Challenge Wales office. Check out the Tall Ships Races and Information Pack here. To make this voyage as accessible as possible bursaries may be available for any of the voyages if you are aged under 26 years.

14 Years Young – A Time To Reflect

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In March 2009, the Challenge Wales sail training charity launched and over the years the Charity has provided many opportunities to thousands of young people helping them broaden their horizons, giving them the first step into a marine career and helping them develop to their full potential.

Sail training is about developing young people at sea through the development of life skills and it wasn’t anything new when Challenge Wales started out. Sail training on tall ships and small ships happens worldwide (check out Sail Training International who organise the Tall Ships Races for more on that) but having this opportunity in Wales started to open doors to individuals, groups, young people and adults who then saw the impact of sail training and the positive benefits it gives to the individual and subsequently families, employees and society as well as our amazing volunteers.

The flagship vessel; Challenge Wales | Wales Tall Ship and probably the largest sailing yacht in Wales at 72-ft was joined by 60-ft Adventure Wales a few years ago and thousands of young people have jumped onboard between them. Voyages range from one-day accredited youth development and life-skills voyages, to residentials of 2 days, 5 days and up to 17 days. Voyages have seen the boats sail locally within Wales, to Ireland and Scotland and as far a field as Finland, Norway and Southern Spain as part of our youth development work.

Our boats are the vehicle for youth work, and although onlookers may simply see a bunch of people sailing, many of those onboard have faced or are facing challenges in their life. Working as a team, develops confidence and communication skills, we help new leaders flourish, we develop resilient individuals and improve their mental health. The Challenge Wales sail training programme develops based on the needs of young people and over the past 14 years, it certainly has and continues to. We’ve brought science to life through STEM activities, we’ve opened up people’s eyes to ocean literacy and the importance of the ocean and the damage marine litter can cause, we take part in citizen science projects and collaborate where we can.

The Challenge Wales charity though wouldn’t be the charity it is without its amazing super-duper volunteers who crew the boats, help fundraise and assist with maintenance. It’s hard work but the rewards are in the faces of the young people who jump onboard who ‘change’ in front of our eyes as they rise to the challenge and the feedback we get after a voyage.

From representing Wales and the young people of Cardiff at the Queen’s Jubilee Pageant on the Thames in 2012, to winning the UK Sail Training Vessel of the year in 2017 and the international award of Sail Training Organisation of the year in 2019. This is due to the amazing work we do, the impact that we have and all the people involved.

So, why does sail training work? Through our own independent evaluation over 3 years and wider industry research our Theory of Change helps us understand the impact of our activities on our beneficiaries. The benefits of sail training activities are intensified and accelerated (happening quicker than a regular weekly activity); it’s isolated (away from the home) and this can cause behaviours to change – little to no social media, no peer pressure, and participants are living and focussed on the ‘now’; it’s a different experience where socially diverse individuals come together; it’s a real experience – actions have real consequences and a real purpose. Sail training activities in general focus on personal development, social development and skills and through this it engages young people into learning, helps them develop a ‘can-do’ attitude, higher aspirations and in the longer term evidenced to improve wellbeing, improve educational attainment, improve employability prospects and improved long term life chances.

Sail training though requires funding and an income, like any organisation and like any other charity. With the cost of living crisis and Covid seeing some funders change their priorities, more charities requiring funding, and with funders not having enough funding to support everyone that needs it, it is a tough world out there. And, that’s why Challenge Wales opens up its sailing activities periodically for adults and corporates of all (or none) sailing experience to jump onboard for big boat sailing, for racing, for opportunities to improve their sailing confidence and skills and for leadership activities. With all profits being donated to the Challenge Wales charity it’s a great way to support a charity on your own or with friends while having fun.

Who knows what this year, next year or the next 14 years will bring. But if you want to be part of this journey as a volunteer, young person, business, supporter or friend of Challenge Wales then please do get in touch. Your involvement will really make a big difference.

But don’t just take our word for it, we thought we would ask what others thought about us over the years, so take a peak below. Happy Sailing and Fair Winds!

Paul Glaze, CEO of Council Of Wales Voluntary Youth Service (CWVYS): “Challenge Wales was one of the first organisations I visited when I started at CWVYS. That occasion has stayed with me for several reasons: I encountered Vicky Williams’s [Trustee] passion and commitment to the Challenge Wales cause; learned how a group of incredibly hardworking volunteers turned their spare time spent on corporate ventures into invaluable, transformational and mainly free of charge opportunities for young people. Oh, and Challenge Wales applied for, and were successful in achieving, CWVYS Membership – and they continue to be valued Members still.

Since then, we have been delighted to see how Challenge Wales has expanded and grown whilst remaining true to its youth work roots: supporting the personal and social development of young people from across Wales and developing key partnerships with voluntary youth work organisations and with local authority youth work teams. In addition, Kerry Rees [Challenge Wales Youth Development Officer] is a hugely active and supportive member of CWVYS activities: as Vice-Chair of our Workforce Development Group and Safeguarding sub-group plus attendance at our Regional Group meetings – ensuring that the strategic and operational links are maintained and strengthened.

Happy 14th Birthday, teenage Challenge Wales!

Challenge Wales is a great youth development organisation. Why?

Lieutenant Nick Woodhouse, School Staff Instructor said: “Challenge Wales has helped to ensure that our pupils here at Treorchy Comprehensive School have independent and interdependence learning skills through outdoor learning, used in a range of ways, this enriches the curriculum and makes learning fun, meaningful and relevant for young people. Outdoor learning projects ‘cynefin’ deliver sustainable development, each outdoor learning opportunity allows children and young people the chance to explore new places and share experiences whilst working with others.”

To find out more, you can email the Challenge Wales team or call the office on 029 20 704657

It’s a big THANK YOU to our amazing volunteers

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The first week of June is Volunteers’ Week enabling us to say a big thank you to all those who help Challenge Wales and support young people

Our amazing volunteers make our voyages possible, they work with young people, they help with maintenance, they do the shopping ready for a voyage, they do DBS checks, they show people around the boat on open boat days, they spend days at sea helping young people leave their comfort zone, they sometimes get sea sick….and sometimes they don’t, they do fundraising, they support fundraising activities, they do cleaning to ensure the boat is spick and span, they are positive role models, they provide supportive words and encouragement to young people and are passionate about helping others. This is why we want to say thank you!

Volunteers Week Logo in Welsh

Challenge Wales is the award-winning charity that it is today because of our volunteers. The young people we work with have missed out on outdoor learning because of Covid, but our volunteers have missed out too.

Volunteering provides a way of giving back, a way of socialising and meeting new people, making new friends, learning new skills or improving current ones. It’s great for your well-being. And, volunteering can improve self-confidence and make you feel good, or even great about yourself.

So thank you again and we can’t wait to welcome back all our volunteers onto our vessels and back into the fold again.

If you are interested in being part of our volunteer team and enabling young people to broaden their horizons and develop to their potential then why not sign up to become a volunteer today and find out more.

2018 – A Review Of Our Charity Year

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From winning awards, to launching new accredited learning…it’s been an amazing year of successes for Challenge Wales.

On what was branded as Visit Wales ‘Year of the Sea’ , we’ll take you on a quick tour of 2018 looking at some of our highlights, as we look forward to celebrating our 10th birthday in 2019!

The first six months of 2018;
In January, the charity had its first permanent salaried sea staff join the team and volunteers onboard Challenge Wales appeared in BBC’s Michael Portillo’s Great Railway Journeys

MIchael Portillo Great Railway Journeys Challenge Wales

 

 

 

 

 

 

February saw us undertake our first residential voyage, brrr it was a chilly one but great to have central heating onboard, and we were excited to win Highly Commended in both the Innovation and People Development categories at the South Wales Business Growth Awards
In April we banned one-use plastic water bottles onboard our vessels and started to issue all young people sailing with us with a Challenge Wales reusable drinks bottle. It was very difficult to manage banning one-use plastic water bottles but it became a great conversation point and raised awareness onboard
May saw the charity commission it’s newly acquired second vessel Adventure Wales and within a few weeks was heading to the Tall Ships Regatta to represent Cardiff, Wales and the UK. It was great that the vessel won the Sail Training International Environment Award! While Adventure Wales was taking part in cultural, youth events, Challenge Wales was Volvo Hunting and welcomed the Volvo Ocean Race fleet into Cardiff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In June we integrated litter picking into our teamwork activities and June was the month we launched our accredited Agored Cymru Environmental Project with Dee Caffari, Skipper of Turn the Tide on Plastic. We had aligned ourselves with Turn the Tide on Plastic as Dee was the only female skipper in the race, 50% of the crew were male/female, it had a really strong environmental message, had the youngest crew in the race and, at the time, the only Welsh sailor onboard. We also picked up the Amazing Space award in the Zokit Business Awards.

 

 

 

 

 

The second half of 2018 saw the charity;
Winning the Social Media Award at the start of the Tall Ships Races in Sunderland in July
In August we launched a sail training programme in North Wales on Adventure Wales and Challenge Wales returned from 49 days of sailing overseas, welcoming 10 different nationalities onboard and taking part in Europe’s largest free, youth, cultural event that was attended by millions of people!
November saw one of our trustees get invited to the Sail Training International Conference in Seville to speak about Challenge Wales’ sustainability journey
and believe it or not, our last voyage of the year happened at the beginning of December!

We welcomed quite a few new, fantastic volunteers to the team and set up no fewer than 30 partnerships with youth organisations who have seen the value of sail training and the impact it can have on young people. We’ve seen many of our young people succeed at getting bursary funding to help them get onboard – as we say, if young people want to take advantage of an opportunity but can’t afford it, we’ll help them to make that opportunity become reality.

 

Although we are small, we are proud of what we have achieved this year and remember;  “If you think you are too small to make an impact – try going to sleep with a mosquito in your cabin”  (quote unknown)

 Thank you so much to our donors, funders, volunteers, supporters and our amazing young people for a memorable 2018!

See you in 2019 for more educational adventures!

 

 

 

 

Challenge Wales volunteers evening at Crepe Escape

Festive Evening Celebrates Challenge Wales Volunteers

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It was a festive thank you to the amazing Challenge Wales volunteers who’ve donated thousands of hours of their time this year.

Volunteers gathered at the award-winning restaurant Crepe Escape, in Penarth, as Trustees of the charity said a big thank you to those who have helped Challenge Wales this year in delivering voyages, fundraising and maintenance activities.

It’s the volunteers who are working with the young people through accredited onboard learning or our life skills development programme and giving up lots of their time to help others, and then coming back time and time again.

Challenge Wales Trustee, Vicky shared just a few of the amazing achievements that had happened in 2018. In particular, the launch of the second vessel Adventure Wales and starting a sail training programme in North Wales, launching an environmental accredited programme at the Volvo Ocean Race Stopover in Cardiff, doing our first group litter pick to raise awareness of one-use plastic getting into the marine environment and representing Wales and the UK at the spectacular Tall Ships Races.

Without our volunteers, these activities just wouldn’t be happening and our sail training programme wouldn’t be growing.

It was great to see familiar faces and new volunteers getting festive and the charity is now looking forward to an exciting 2019 as it celebrates its 10th birthday!!

Challenge Wales volunteers evening 2018

Almost 3000 miles later, Challenge Wales Returns Home to Cardiff

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After almost 50 days away, Challenge Wales is returning home to Penarth today having had an amazing youth-led summer of adventure.

Having left her home port of Penarth Marina in June crewed by young people from Newport, Challenge Wales set sail for the South Coast for an adult fundraiser before heading to Sunderland for the start of the Tall Ships Races which would see us visit Esbjerg (Denmark), Stavanger (Norway), Harlingen (Netherlands) before returning into UK waters.

The rest of the summer would see young people jumping onboard representing no fewer than 10 different nationalities to experience one of the largest cultural, youth events in Europe as we represented Cardiff, Wales and the UK.

Those onboard would be racing, cooking, cleaning and running the boat…often jumping onboard with no experience whatsoever….but that’s fine as our volunteers and sea-staff help show everyone the ropes (literally!)

To get a snapshot of what was being experienced on Challenge Wales take a look at the film that one of our French trainees put together;

Although our summer has been fun, it has been educational which underpins all our activities.

From making ourselves more plastic aware and doing a litter pick at one of the ports we stopped at, to developing teamwork and communication skills, meeting young people from all over the world and understanding and accepting different cultures, to working in watches and strict routines, to broadening horizons and developing confidence and making new friends through adventure – It’s sail training in action. We are also proud to have given every young person who joined us a reusable drinks bottle to use during the voyage and to take home afterwards in our efforts to educate young people on the damage one-use plastic is doing to the environment.

49 young people have jumped onboard over the last few weeks, some were doing their Gold DofE, some were wanting to put something different onto their CV, some were onboard as they were deserving of a place and had been nominated for the experience while others were onboard working on an accredited environmental project. What was really good to see was that some of the young people who booked onto one leg, asked to stay on for the next voyage…so we must be doing something really special for that to happen!

What also made the Tall Ships Races exciting was not just the range of weather conditions from no wind to 35 knots, sailing non-stop through the night in watches or seeing a whale (albeit briefly), was that the Tall Ships fleet were trackable so parents, families and friends could follow our progress from home. With regular updates on twitter too, it really felt that you were there experiencing it with the young people!

Did you know that Challenge Wales volunteers helped deliver our summer adventures and this year amazingly 21 volunteers donated collectively almost 250 days of their time to make our overseas summer voyages happen?

And, with Wales’ sail training charity heading towards its 10th birthday next year, who knows what other exciting adventures are on the horizon and will be shared. #SharetheAdventure

Challenge Wales arrives into Harlingen at the end of the Tall Ships Races 2018. Pic courtesy of Sail Training International

 

A big THANK YOU to our volunteers

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It has been a busy year, as we look back, reflect, reminisce and smile at all the great moments we have had.

But, without our volunteers giving up so much of their time Challenge Wales just wouldn’t be the charity it is. So on Thursday 14th December, we brought many of our volunteers together at our festive Volunteers Evening in Penarth to say thank you and to celebrate our successes.

One of Challenge Wales’ Trustees presents an overview of 2017 to volunteers and guests

It isn’t just the volunteer crew that were thanked but also the shore-side volunteers that have helped within the office, or onboard with maintenance and painting. The evening took a brief look back at everything we had done and my goodness what a lot of amazing stuff we had done!

2017 saw us welcome more young people than ever onboard from North, West, South and Mid Wales. We worked with more young people with learning difficulties and continued to welcome new volunteers into the Challenge Wales fold.

We also used the evening to say thank you to our funders who help ensure we reach the young people that need to be reached.

We look forward to a just as amazing 2018!

If you are inspired to be a Challenge Wales volunteer, then don’t forget to check out our volunteer page on our website.

Young people sailing and waving onboard Challenge Wales Tall Ship

Challenge Wales returns home after her biggest adventure yet

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At the beginning of June 2017 Challenge Wales | Wales’ Tall Ship epic journey started as she left Cardiff in windy conditions, she is now set to return to Cardiff on Friday 25th August.

So before she returns lets look at a few top line figures about what happened this summer….

  • Challenge Wales sailed almost 4,100 miles
  • Challenge Wales represented Wales and the UK in one of the largest youth and cultural events in Europe
  • She was away from Cardiff for almost 80 days
  • Challenge Wales visited 14 countries – including Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland
  • Wind conditions blew in from a very frustrating 0 knots to an exhilarating 42 knots
  • 35 different ports were visited
  • Challenge Wales welcomed 10 different nationalities onboard
  • She motored through 3 canals (in Scotland, Germany and Holland)
  • The entire journey had different young people onboard for each leg on voyages that ranged from 8 to 14 days
  • Challenge Wales’ amazing volunteers donated over 9,200 hours of their time to mentor the young people and help the young people sail the boat
  • Young people were onboard for every day of our journey
  • Most of the young people onboard had never sailed before
  • The entire crew ended up in prison for one night….OK, it was for a party and the prison was a ‘tourist attraction’.

The reason why Challenge Wales was away was that she was taking part in the 2017 Tall Ships Races series in the Baltic. An event that is based around young people….so what are the stats around this event you wonder;

  • No fewer than 105 vessels took part in the 2017 Tall Ships Races series
  • These vessels represented 20 countries
  • Collectively these vessels had over 7,000 crew which each vessel being crewed by young people under the age of 26 years (in fact the rules are of Tall Ships Racing 50% of the crew has to be 15 – 25 years)
  • The largest Tall Ship measured over 122 metres
  • On one vessel there were over 200 crew (trainees and professional crew), that definitely beats our full compliment of 18!
  • End to end the vessels stretched almost 2 miles
  • Well over 2.5 million people visited the Tall Ships event making it Europe’s largest free family festival. Worth noting each port hosted the event for 4/5 days.

The Tall Ships Races 2017 Director, Mike Bowles said “The Tall Ships Races provide a unique opportunity for young people to go to sea to learn about themselves and others while developing skills that will stay with for life – it’s a proven life-changing experience. Young people taking part in these races become wonderful ambassadors for their home countries at the same time as learning about other cultures from different nationalities taking part. It was a great pleasure to see the Welsh sail training vessel Challenge Wales representing Wales. Challenge Wales is not only helping to raise awareness of Wales on an international scale but the Challenge Wales charity are to be congratulated for their continued commitment to the young people of Wales whose lives they are so positively influencing.” 

 

Emily (aged 17) from Llantwit Major said “I absolutely loved being on Challenge Wales. Working with a group of strangers, who then became good friends, in an extraordinary environment to meet our goals was fun and a great team-building experience”.

“I learnt that it’s ok to leave the comfort of your family and try something new” said Tyrone (aged 17) from Cardiff.

In the Tall Ships Races 2017 Challenge Wales finished 5th in Class and 18th overall which was an amazing achievement for all those onboard.

Challenge Wales is due to return to Penarth around 6.00pm on Friday 25th August. She will be sailing up from Lundy Island against the tide, past Penarth seafront and the Pier before heading through Cardiff Barrage. She should be heading into Penarth Marina briefly before heading across Cardiff Bay and into the Cardiff Harbour Festival for the Bank Holiday Weekend.

Thank you to everyone who has been involved in our summer of adventure!

 

Travelling could make you more employable

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Taking time out in between studying, or taking a break from work could be seen as a risk. How do you pay for travel? Am I going to miss a promotion at work? Will I get left behind as my friends and family carry on with their lives.

Well, according to new research conducted by Hostelworld who surveyed 1,000 people in eight different countries, taking time out (from a month to longer) to travel to gain some worldly experiences might actually make you more employable.

The results showed that over 80% of employers believed that travelling made you more employable. 38% of those surveyed felt travel boosts confidence, 37% believed it increased people skills, 35% said that travel helped them adapt to new situations well while 31% felt travel improved their communication skills. When looking at those who had travelled themselves, 62% said their travel experiences helped them understand what they wanted to do with their life, while almost 50% made connections while travelling who helped them get a foot in the door at companies.

Who knows what is over the horizon, but travelling suggests something better?!

We at Challenge Wales think this is very interesting, as we are into travel and skills development to improve employment prospects, we are also keen on adventure so we looked at one of our own case studies and did a little bit more digging!

It’s a competitive place on there, get your CV noticed
The Higher Education Statistics Agency shows 73% of students are graduating with a degree that is a 2:1 or higher….which means there is a lot of competition out there for jobs so your CV has to stand out. A life-experience like travel can do that.

Skills learnt are transferable into a variety of jobs
So, what skills can a life-experience like travel provide me with: Teamwork skills (if you are working with others), communication skills and confidence (visiting a new part of the world you might have to overcome language barriers, come out of your comfort zone, ask how to find a bus or talking to strangers?), adaptability (you are going to be out of your comfort zone, the unexpected might be happening, your routine might be changing – so you need to adapt), responsibility and independence (you’ve arrived at an airport, you are in charge of yourself: it’s you, your backpack, your passport and your travel money!). Read our case study ‘From unemployment and into work’.

Volunteering
Your travel adventure could tie in volunteering helping you to develop skills and experience in a specific field of interest. Challenge Wales offers this, so if you join us for a week or two one year, how about joining us for much longer the following year! Plus, this opportunity is available for those up to the age of 75!

Giving you a focus
One of our young trainees was coming to the end of her university degree and didn’t quite know what she wanted. to do Her adventure with Challenge Wales gave her that focus and drive to pursue a career she hadn’t thought of. Read our case study ‘From Wales to the other side of the world’.

Representing Wales and the UK
Challenge Wales is part of the international Tall Ships fleet, and those aged 16 – 25 years have the opportunity to represent Wales and the UK at these cultural events that form part of the Tall Ships races. All of the above applies to Tall Ships Racing: skills development, developing drive and focus, sense of competition, dealing with success, achievement but also reflecting on when things haven’t gone so well. Our voyages can be life-changing. And, with Challenge Wales being just one of over 100 vessels taking part, you can spend a whole summer jumping on and off different vessels or use the event to take you to new countries before continuing your travel on land.

Sometimes you can’t get to where you need to go until you find a different path
Quote – Unknown

 

 

Another award for Challenge Wales | Wales’ Tall Ship

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It was the end to a busy week in Challenge Wales Towers. But what a week it became!

Our first residential of the season was about to start, a 9 day voyage from Cardiff to Lymington on the South Coast. Volunteer crew were getting ready to arrive, the boat had been prepped: fuelled, food onboard, cleaned. Paperwork had been prepared, marinas liaised with in preparation of our visit and emails & phone calls made to marine-based organisations who were also helping us with an educational element to our voyage.  Throw in some forecasted bad weather and contingency plans and yes, it was a busy week.

But before the voyage started there was one evening to be had. It was the South Wales Business Growth Awards 2017 and what was great about this was that Challenge Wales | Wales’ Tall Ship had been shortlisted as a finalist in not just one, but two categories: Innovation AND People Development.  To be a finalist is fantastic news and a great achievement for us. To be a finalist in two categories was amazing!

The Innovation Category  recognises companies who have successfully created innovative products or processes that make a difference – either by developing something new or delivering a significant improvement. There was tough competition and Challenge Wales didn’t win this. However, it was a different story for the People Development category.

The People Development award recognises businesses who put people at the heart of everything they do, enabling and inspiring their team through professional and personal development opportunities and support.  The host of the evening went up on stage with a gold envelope in hand, she leaned forward and said “And, the winner of the People Development Award is…….Challenge Wales”.

Trustees Vicky Williams and Andy Hall accept the award at the Business Growth Awards

WOW!! It was an amazing evening and a brilliant end to the week.

And, what does winning the People Development Award mean?

It is fantastic that a small charity like Challenge Wales gets recognition amongst the business world. It is great that judges have felt we were worthy winners. It is all about those special moments when we see young people develop confidence and skills they didn’t think they had, it is inspiring when we hear that someone we have helped has gone into employment as a result of our programme. But this award wasn’t just about the young people we help but the work we also do to develop volunteers …and it’s our volunteers who make the charity what it is and who have helped us to get this award.

…And then 36 hours later it was a quick change from black tie and posh frocks to deck shoes and waterproof clothes and getting ready for the first youth development college voyage of the year.

If you want to develop your skills with Challenge Wales and are aged 16 – 26 years then get in touch about our residential sail training voyages. If you want to develop yourself as a volunteer, then check our out volunteering pages on our website for more details. Younger than 16 years then join us on our shorter voyages.

The People Development award is the second award to be won in 2017 by Challenge Wales having won “UK Sail Training Vessel of the Year” in January – the highest award in the sail training industry.