Warsash cadets sail through life-raft challenge and raise more than £13,000 for charity
Could you spend 24-hours in a life-raft? Cadets from Southampton Solent University’s Warsash Maritime Academy did just that, so far raising £13,000 for Sail 4 Cancer.
On Friday 13 March, with determination and good spirit, 42 cadets donned foul weather gear and boarded life-rafts tethered to buoys in the River Hamble, where they stayed for 24 hours in wet and chilly conditions, testing their endurance and team-building skills to the limit.
Supporting Sail 4 Cancer, a specialist cancer respite charity with a sporting focus, for the second year running, the challenge is designed to imitate seafarers cast adrift with their boat sinking behind them. It provides a valuable training experience for the cadets, who stormed their funding target of £200 each, which will help to provide respite breaks for families affected by cancer.
Delighted at their achievement, Cadet Liaison Officer David Baker said: “During the night the temperature plummeted to about three degrees and with a 15 mile-per-hour wind-chill this made conditions pretty uncomfortable.
“However, the cadets’ determination and camaraderie ensured their resolve to finish the challenge and they did themselves proud,” he continued.
Sail 4 Cancer’s Fundraising Manager, Lizette van Niekerk, praised the cadets’ enthusiasm for the charity’s work: “This challenge is one of the hardest and logistically most challenging, yet the students have come up trumps again and raised much needed funds which will make such a difference.”
Donations can still be made via the Team Warsash Sail 4 Cancer webpage: http://www.sail4cancer.org/team-warsash-liferaft-challenge-2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT THE MEDIA OFFICE ON 023 8201 3642 or press.office@solent.ac.uk
About Warsash Sail 4 Cancer Challenge
Information about the individuals taking part in the challenge, including their motivations for getting involved, are available on the Team Warsash Sail4Cancer webpage: http://www.sail4cancer.org/team-warsash-liferaft-challenge-2015. Thanks go to Survitec Group for providing the life-rafts, Sunsail Events for providing life jackets and foul weather gear, and Sodexo for providing much needed hot food.
About Southampton Solent University
Southampton Solent University offers more than 23,000 students over 200 qualifications ranging from HND to PhD, in subjects such as maritime education and training, fashion and design, media and television, music, health, sport and leisure, business, IT and technology. The University was awarded the 2013 Quality Assurance kitemark for quality and standards of teaching and learning. Solent was voted one of the most creative universities in the UK in a Which? University 2014 poll of students. Solent Business School has been awarded ‘Gold approval’ by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Small Business Charter Award, which is supported by the Association of Business Schools and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
About Warsash Maritime Academy
Warsash Maritime Academy, the commercial maritime arm of Southampton Solent University, has provided first class education, training, consultancy and research services to the international maritime industry for nearly 70 years. WMA enrols more than 9,500 students a year and provides internationally recognised certification programmes for both navigation (deck) and engineer officers from Officer Cadet level up to Master Mariner and Chief Engineer respectively. These programmes are approved by the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). The Academy also offers a comprehensive range of mandatory and non-mandatory short safety courses to the maritime industry, developing skills such as fire-fighting and sea survival, as well as continuous professional development modules for more experienced seafarers.
About Sail 4 Cancer
Sail 4 Cancer was set up in 2001 by a group of keen sailors who had all lost a close friend or relative to cancer. Sail 4 Cancer is primarily a provider of water-based respite days and holidays for families affected by cancer. The charity also makes grants to cancer care centres and supports research into the positive effects of exercise (e.g. sailing) and how it can help prevent cancer and aid recovery post diagnosis. Sail 4 Cancer is UK Registered Charity Number 1090133.www.sail4cancer.org.
Tags:
