Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2017 | Page 44

Interview
“It was pretty clear from
a young age that I didn’t
want to go down the
academic route. I just
wanted to do as much
sailing as possible”.
Ben with his children
Long-distance vision
“Noel was certainly ahead of his time”
says Ben Willows. “As well as developing
courses for fee-paying students, he was
particularly keen to operate the facility as
a social enterprise, working with young
people who wouldn’t otherwise have the
oppo rtunity to experience the power of
the sea”.
This is how UKSA came to develop its
two main operational arms: Sea. Careers
and Sea. Change, and is the reason why it
now welcomes around 10,000 students
a year - including everyone from an eight
year-old having their first experience
on the water, to someone doing their
professional training as a Captain.
Sea. Careers offers professional training
courses for watersports and sailing
instructors right up to professional
maritime crew, skippers and stewards for
super yachts, and captains and officers of
vessels of up to 3,000 gross tonnes.
Sea. Change, meanwhile, incorporates
a wide range of entry-level experience
programmes, including the highly
successful Test the Water initiative, which
invites all Year 6 students on the Island
for a half-day watersports session, with
exciting and character-building activities
including sailing rafts and learning to
build a boat.
In the three years that it’s been running,
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Ben (left) with Princess Anne
Test the Water has welcomed 3,240 Island
children to find their sea legs, many of
them for the first time.
Says Ben: “We’re delighted to be able to
offer this programme to young Islanders
as part of our ‘Sea. Change’ ethos
because, despite living on an island, there
are actually many young people who will
not have the chance to experience the
challenge and fun of watersports. Test
the Water gives every child the chance to
experience that unique thrill of being out
on the water.”
Meanwhile, 15-17 year-old Islanders can
make the most of the National Citizen
Service (NCS) courses that are delivered
by UKSA. The summer residential
programmes run in the school holidays
and are aimed at developing the kind of
leadership and teamworking skills that
make youngsters more employable –
quite apart from being a whole lot of fun
and adventure!
With Government funding, most
youngsters pay only around £50 of the
£1,300 real cost of the course.