In 2020 we launched Year 1 of our instructor incubator programme, a new 5-year project. A group of sixteen children aged 10-13 took part in beginner sailing, windsurfing and general watersports courses at the Oysterhaven Centre in Cork, awarded best training centre in the Southern region in 2019 by the Irish Sailing Association (ISA). Over the next few years, our participants will have the chance to work towards ISA / IWA accreditation in Sailing and Windsurfing. Our aim is that some of the group will ultimately progress to instructor level.
In the past our primary activity was sending young people on Tall Ships voyages around Ireland. Our new programme is more ambitious and long-term, seeking a more enduring integration benefit. The project aims to give young people the opportunity to gain enduring skills and qualifications in watersports, and thereby integrate in the Irish workforce, as well as fostering their social and cultural integration with Irish peers their own age.
The young people who took part in 2020 were resident in three different direct provision centres in Co. Cork: Mallow, Millstreet and Kinsale Road Direct Provision Centre in Cork City. We are indebted to Welcome Wave, CDYS Mallow and NASC for their help in nominating suitable young people to take part. We also want to thank the Cork Life Centre for the loan of their minibus!
The Instructor Incubator project was inspired by the late Kevin O’Brien who worked tireless at Sligo V.E.C. for many years creating generations of sailing instructors in Sligo, in communities who would not otherwise have had access to the sport.
