This weekend youth worker, Helen Chatfield from the benefice of North Hampshire Downs took a group of nine Ukrainian teenagers, who are part of her youth group at All Saint’s Odiham, on a sailing adventure hosted by the Morning Star Trust. The youth group is now made up of 40% Ukrainian children. The youth group has been a catalyst for the children and their families’ assimilation to the local area, creating an opportunity for them to make friends with people the same age and practice their English.
The Morning Star Trust, based on Hayling Island, is a Christian sailing organisation that welcomes young people from special schools and youth groups to experience life-changing opportunities – to learn the ins and outs of sailing and provides training and qualifications for those who take a shine to the experience.
The group of teenagers, youth workers and sailing experts set sail on two boats from Hayling Island on Friday evening to reach the Isle of Wight on Saturday evening and sail back to Hayling Island on Sunday.
The group enjoyed cooking and eating together, learning new things like how to tie different knots, how to put up the sails and how to live on board a ship. The experience provided a different headspace and an all-consuming experience that helped these young adults realise they could take responsibility for themselves and for others around them.
On their way to the Isle of Wight they were met by a storm with gale force 7 winds. The rocking of the boat, atmosphere on board and being without her parents brought back memories and worries from the trouble in Ukraine for one young lady. The skipper on the boat said:
‘The other children gathered round her. They didn’t shy away that she was upset, and they supported her.’
A mum of two of the young women on the trip said:
“Thank you Helen and all team so much. It was the first time for my girls, and they came back full of emotions. It was really happy time for them! They so love all the team and most spoke about driving. My daughters came home more stronger, more confident and too much happy.”
Meanwhile, on the other boat one young man, being a bit cautious about being on deck, requested to help with tasks that were inside the boat only. By the end of the trip, his confidence and knowledge of sailing had grown so much that he was tasked with bringing in the jib – which meant him hanging off the boat into the waves.
One young man said:
“Thank you very much for this wonderful trip! I liked the most when we got into a storm and our boat glided over giant waves and we managed the sails ourselves! It was also very cool that we were busy all the time – I didn’t even have time to get my phone and it was splendid. Chris, Jacob and Helen, I am very pleased and even a little embarrassed that you made such an effort for us! And again: thank you very much. I hope our team will go to sea again!”
Two boys and one girl who went on the trip have been invited back to complete further training to become ‘competent crew’.
It is hoped that this new experience and training will lead to a joint British/Ukrainian sailing trip in the future.
