Club gets help for a new boat (From Penarth Times)

Club gets help for a new boat

PENARTH Yacht Club has received a total of £300 from AMP, which will help towards the cost of a new training dinghy for some of their younger sailors.

The international financial services company, AMP, became involved with the club through employee Jane Pickford, who works at its Cardiff branch, on Newport Road. Jane, from Cogan, has been going to the club for the past twelve years, and is now a qualified Royal Yachting Association dinghy instructor, who devotes more than 100 hours a year to teaching members. She qualified last year, and said that she finds sailing 'a very good stress relief'.

On a weekend, she often goes boat racing with her fellow instructors off Penarth sea front. She got involved with sailing, after her eldest son Jamie, now 26, showed a keen interest in it when he was young. He now works as an instructor for the Penarth Yacht Club.

The funding from AMP will go towards a 'Taz' training dinghy for the 8 to 12-year-olds. This model is faster, and comes with two sails. The younger members of the club go sailing on Cosmeston Lake every Saturday, during the sailing season, which runs from April-September.

Jane works as a Test Analyst, and applied to AMP for the grant under its Employee Community Support Programme.

Under the programme, employees who spend over eighty hours a year, working for a charity or local group are eligible for a grant of up to £300.

Fund-raising efforts are also backed with AMP matching cash raised, pound for pound, again up to £300.

Jane said: "The grant is fantastic, as it has enabled us to buy this new dinghy which will provide an excellent stepping stone for our young members, from the basic low powered dinghy used by the juniors, to the Topper and Mirror style training dinghies".

Head of Sponsorship and Community at AMP, Jon Slack said: "AMP is committed to supporting charities and local groups by putting something back into the local communities in which its employees live and work".

For further information on sailing, contact Penarth Yacht Club on 029 20708196.