Kent charity Wealden Sailability has been creating memories for children with life threatening illnesses and their families.

Based at Chipstead Sailing Club, Wealden Sailability welcomed more than 50 guests from Dartford’s ‘Cherished Memories’ charity and Sevenoaks disability sailing group to enjoy a fun day’s sailing together.

30 volunteers helped the youngsters and their families get afloat, ensuring all the needs of the group could be met whilst also giving each child the chance to get as involved as possible.

There was fun sailing in the morning with some of the guests getting into the competitive spirit and racing after lunch.

At the end of the day on Wednesday, August 27 every child was presented with a certificate personally signed by Dame Ellen MacArthur.

The annual ‘Cherished Memories’ day was the latest highlight for Wealden Sailability, which has received new funding to invest in additional specialist boats and equipment to give even more local people with disabilities the chance to learn to sail and sail regularly.

“Our aim is to get anyone on to the water no matter what their disability, to learn to sail in a safe environment, to simply enjoy themselves in the company of others, or to develop their competitive skills" - Brian Stanley, Wealden Sailability

The grants included £10,000 from Sport England, £13,600 from the Peter Harrison Foundation and £9,000 from the Wooden Spoon rugby charity plus other local donations, which have boosted the group’s fleet to 19 boats.

Brian Stanley, who set up Wealden Sailability six years ago, said: “We’ve had a wonderful year and were delighted to see our friends from Cherished Memories again. It was a great day, the sun shone and we had a nice breeze for sailing.

“The idea is to involve the whole family for an active day out as sailing is one of the only sports to be totally inclusive, where even a person with the most severe disabilities can share a boat with an active teenager and their parents.

“Our aim is to get anyone on to the water no matter what their disability, to learn to sail in a safe environment, to simply enjoy themselves in the company of others, or to develop their competitive skills."

Wealden Sailability is part of RYA Sailability, the national programme run by sailing’s national governing body, which encourages and supports people with a wide and diverse range of abilities in learning to sail and sailing regularly.

For more information about Wealden Sailability visit www.wealdensailability.org or to learn more about RYA Sailability visit www.rya.org.uk/sailability