How volunteering can help young people to navigate choppy waters

Here at CMC, we’re all about giving a little something back and we love to think that our charitable donations can create real change in our local communities.

However, making a difference doesn’t always need to be a financial investment – giving our time in the form of volunteering can be just as valuable in making a positive impact to our communities.

Our consultant Sam Brian volunteers for Morvargh Sailing Project , and we quizzed him on what his volunteering role entails, what he enjoys about it, and found out how Morvargh Sailing Project makes a difference to young people's lives.

What is your volunteering role?

As a volunteer Watch Leader for Morvargh Sailing Project, I joined the incredible young crew of “TS Helen Mary R”, on their final home leg of a month-long circumnavigation of the British Isles.

Morvargh Sailing Project is an amazing charity based in Fowey, Cornwall run by Matt and Vicky. They are dedicated to delivering volunteer-led sail training voyages to mixed crews of young people from differing socio-economic backgrounds. The voyages offer a physical and mental challenge, giving young people a chance to develop teamwork, leadership, and resilience that they take forward to their day-to-day lives.

What makes you happy in your volunteering role?

Watching the confidence and leadership qualities emerging from what were completely “green” sailors a month before is very rewarding, and a great real-world lesson of the importance of effective communication. It was obvious that the young people quickly realised that the safety and needs of the boat and others trumped the needs of the individual. The seas around the UK can be dangerous, this was drilled into them, and then learned to strip out all unnecessary noise in communication to focus on the task at hand and common goal. Seeing them intuit each other’s next actions with a simple nod of the head was impressive to witness.

During my short time onboard, I quickly saw how well drilled the 10 young people were. By the time I got onboard, they were so proficient at running the boat that the Watch Leaders didn't have much to do! The crew worked with each other in challenging conditions to safely navigate and sail the 55ft Bowman all the way around the UK, an accomplishment that few experienced sailors get to achieve in a whole career at sea.

What's next?

I'm hoping to join a new crew on the cross channel expedition to the Netherlands that's coming up next year - here's some more details about it.

If you would like to support Morvargh Sailing Project, or even volunteer yourself, you can get in contact here.