On Saturday afternoon, 25th August, Sophie Young a trustee of the Elmgrant Trust together with her brother Chris and his carer Keith visited Dart Sailability at Noss. The Elmgrant Trust was established in November 1936 by Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst and Dorothy’s daughter Beatrice. The Elmgrant Trust was intended to further the Dartington ethos by making grants to individuals and organisations whose aims and activities supplemented and supported those of the Dartington Hall Trust. It has existed at Dartington Hall since then, awarding grants for general charitable purposes but in particular the encouragement of local life through education, the arts and the social sciences.
The Elmgrant Trust has kindly provided funds for our general use, to support the purchase of new training materials, and to make a contribution towards the new personnel hoist. Our visitors spent time with the management team and met many volunteers and sailors. The Officer of the Day offered Dart Sailability’s sincere thanks to the Trust for their generous donation. While volunteers kept Chris company, Keith took a trip on the Farries Flyer and Sophie spent the afternoon helping the pontoon team. She became very familiar with the operation of the new hoist and through conversations with the sailors (sometimes held with the sailors in their boats, and sometimes with them suspended in mid air as she wound the winch) gained an understanding of the contribution sailing makes to their lives. When Keith returned to dry land it was Sophie’s turn for a trip on the river.
Sophie grew up sailing Puffin dinghies and was intrigued by the Hansas. We hope she will return to try one out. (For the curious, the Puffin was designed by the famous DIY specialist and TV presenter Barry Bucknell as a collapsible car top dinghy/tender complete with a single sail Bermudan rig, making an excellent junior racing boat).
Since her visit Sophie has written to Mike Pleass thanking the Dart Sailability crew for the warm welcome they received, noting the good humour and interactions that went on between everyone and that it was great to see the hoist in action and to watch people out on the water. Chris also enjoyed a lovely day, not to mention the tea, cake and sandwiches! She is intent on sharing her experiences with her fellow trustees.
Thank you all for making Sophie so welcome and fostering our relationship with the Trust.