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Anyone involved in sailing will tell you nothing beats it. They'll talk about how exhilarating it is, the sense of freedom it brings and that it is simply great fun. No surprise then that if you look out over Oxfordshire's Farmoor Reservoir, it will be busy with boats. What you won't be able to tell from the shore is that many are piloted by disabled sailors.
The truth is that sailing is one of the few sports in which the disabled can compete with able-bodied people. All that is needed is a little help getting into a specially adapted boat, such as a Challenger and disabled sailors can enjoy the excitement of being out on the water.
Oxford Sailability has been operating at Farmoor Reservoir for the last twenty-five years, helping children and adults with disabilities to sail. However, the current facilities are limited and the club relies on many willing volunteers to venture deep into the cold water in order to help disabled people launch their boats.
Thank you to everyone who voted for the Pontoon Project on the recent ITV People's Millions programme. With your support we won a grant of £94,000! What a fantastic boost to our fundraising efforts. Click here to read more about it.
How Can You Help?
The Pontoon Project needs to raise just £200,000 to start building a new, state of the art pontoon at the reservoir. It will give disabled people easier access their boats and far less reliance on volunteers.
You can make a difference. We're nearly there and we want you, your club, society, school or company to have some fun and help with fundraising.
You can see some of the things people have done on our Get Involved page – things like the Great North Run, school non-uniform days and corporate days out at Farmoor. Every penny raised goes towards making the new pontoon a reality.
Giving the Pontoon a Lift
Click here to read the latest issue of Gone Sailing, our email newsletter and find out what progress we're making.
For more information about corporate events and fundraising, click here or call Bill Proctor on 01235 815 943.
The registered name of the charity is Accessible Sailing while the working name is The Farmoor Reservoir Pontoon Project. Registered Charity Number: 1114130. |
