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More Changes Coming To The Club

Published 9:01pm on 18 Jun 2024

More Changes coming to the club…

Now we have the solar installations completed and running successfully (the showers seem much appreciated!) we have some more innovations on the way

We are currently recognised as a Sailability centre but our offer has, until now, been very limited and linked to Churchill Park Complex Needs School. There is no Sailability centre within a 50-mile radius of the club so we believe that we should use our expertise and enthusiasm to extend our facilities and open up sailing to anyone less able.

Coming in the next couple of months you will see:

Two Hansa 303 Accessible dinghies on the lake (at the moment they are in the dinghy park)
A new wheelchair-accessible floating pontoon, complete with hoist, to enable access to the Hansas. This facility will also be used by our model boat sailors (well, perhaps not the hoist!) and the training centre.
There will also be a new surface on the slipway and a level concrete path installed at the bottom of the ramp to allow easy wheelchair access to the pontoon - this installation is scheduled for after Cadet Weeks.

We will also be looking to recruit a team of regular volunteers - full training will be offered - to support accessible sailing, so look out for the invitation to get involved!

Once again Adrian has been chasing funding for this project and has been successful with grant bids to the Norfolk Community Foundation through Love Norfolk Fund 2023, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund administered by Norfolk Community Foundation and Hunstanton Rotary Club and Inner Wheel to a total so far of £25750. This, together with volunteer time, will cover all the costs of the project - a fantastic result!

We also have a grant bid pending to the Sports Council Mobility Fund for a new Hartley Wayfarer to further support Sailability and the Training Centre, plus one or two additional applications to support volunteer training.