Uksa runners in Brighton Marathon all make it to finish line

Yesterday was the first ever Brighton Marathon and despite the heat we are delighted to report that all five runners running on behalf of UKSA finished the marathon.

It was a long day but it was amazing to see five smiling happy faces as they crossed the half way point and then again at the end!  They all finished in well under six hours which was an incredible achievement, infact there were still people passing the half way mark when our runners finished! 

One of our runners (Louise) damaged her knee at the 25 mile point and was told by paramedics that she would have to pull out of the race, but she refused and was half carried to the finish line by her boyfriend (Syd) who was also running on behalf of UKSA.  And they were beaming from ear to ear when they made it. 

Richard Simpson from Ventnor Middle School ran the Brighton Marathon to raise money for UKSA and on Sunday will be doing it all again when he runs the London Marathon to raise money for Breaks for Kids. 

Nigel Bradbury who finished the CY course two weeks ago was the first of our runners to finish in just over 4 hours.  Nigel has just secured his first job which starts on Wednesday so hopefully the side affects of running a marathon will have worn off by then!

David Cox was an "own place runner" and contacted us a few weeks ago to ask if he could raise money on our behalf, he had had wonderful experiences at sailing schools in America when he was younger and wanted to help make sure young people had access to similar experiences. 

All in all it was a wonderful day! 

It's not too late to sponsor our runners and show them how much you appreciate what they did yesterday, there is a sponsorship form in Reception and you can also donate on line at www.justgiving.com/lou-syd.

We will be posting some photos on the blog shortly so watch this space...
...see photos of our runners here

UKSA provide free training and employment for jobless young people

UKSA will now be able to offer 50 young people the opportunity to take part in a free training and employment programme for work in the leisure industry. Having secured funding from The National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure through the Government’s ‘Future Jobs Fund,’ a group of 18-24 year olds who have been unemployed for more than six months will now be able to retrain for employment in the growing leisure industry.

Participants will undertake a fully-funded six month programme of training and work experience, providing each of them with valuable skills and qualifications. Upon joining the scheme trainees will first follow an intensive watersports instructor training programme at UKSA, living and learning at the organisation’s headquarters in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Following their initial training, participants will then undertake a work placement in the leisure industry to gain invaluable employment experience. 

Simon Davies, Director of Youth Development at UKSA, explained: “The new programme is designed to increase the participant’s confidence, self esteem and motivation. As well as gaining valuable watersports instructor qualifications, the programme will give the young people taking part the opportunity to explore and gain a whole host of social and business skills.”

Simon continued: ‘By taking part in the scheme, participants will gain the qualifications to teach beginner’s dinghy sailing and kayaking as well as an NVQ Certificate in Outdoor Leadership. These qualifications have already resulted in very successful employment for participants following a similar programme run through the Princes’ Trust. We are very excited to have been given the opportunity to inspire young people who have found themselves in a position of long-term unemployment.” 

Future Jobs Fund is a Government fund of around £1 billion provided to support the creation of jobs for long term unemployed young people, as well as others who face significant disadvantage in the labour market.  The fund is continuing to seek to attract bids in order to create 150,000 new jobs for people across the UK.

 To gain access to the programme, participants will need to be referred to UKSA through job centre plus. No previous watersports experience is required.

Cowes confirmed as venue for Extreme Sailing Series

The home of UK yacht racing, Cowes on the Isle of Wight will host the only UK stop on the 2010 Extreme Sailing Series circuit.

The ‘Extreme Sailing Series at Cowes Week’ will build on the success of 2009 where the Extreme 40 racing was a key attraction during this world famous regatta, with celebrities Simon Le Bon, Ben Fogle and Brawn F1 chief Nick Fry vying for 5th man spots on board, and BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank performing a live set in the public bar.

Read more about the Extreme Sailing series here

UKSA Celebrates partnership with Even Keel Project

UKSA, officially launched its partnership with the Even Keel Project today (Friday 9^th April). UKSA has been selected as the UK base for the project, and through its training facilities and highly-qualified instructors will make sailing more accessible to hundreds of people with a physical disability.

At today’s open day, held at UKSA in Cowes, Even Keel, UKSA and title sponsor Artemis Investment Management presented an overview of the project to-date, as well as outlined plans for 2010. The Even Keel project operates six Artemis 20 racing keel boats, which are based at UKSA and adapted for teaching, training and racing by both disabled and able-bodied sailors.

This launch also heralds the start of the project’s ‘Try Sailing’ season, which starts on Thursday 15^th April and has been created for disabled groups and individuals who would like to try sailing in a performance keel boat. UKSA is currently talking bookings for Thursday, Friday and Saturday sessions, with promising individuals also having the chance to compete in the Artemis Even Keel Challenge at Cowes Week.

Simon Davies, Director of Youth Development at UKSA, commented: “We are absolutely delighted to be getting involved in this project and to have been selected as Even Keel’s UK base. Sailing is one of only a few sports where having a physical disability does not have to be a disadvantage. We are delighted to have been able to offer hundreds of sailors access to the water at UKSA through our adaptive sailing programme and that this project will allow us to help hundreds more.” 

for more information on the project visit http://www.theevenkeel.com