Happy New Year! An update from the team at the ‘Sofa To Sailboat’ project.
No doubt you have been following the news and the current events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the whole of the UK now finds itself in ‘Lockdown’ again.
This week Courtney and I had an online meeting to talk about the impact of the most recent turn of events and how it would affect our project and planning. We have decided that at present that we will still continue and work towards completing our Atlantic Crossing challenge this year in December to raise money in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, Mind, MS-UK, and St Helena Hospice.
‘Poppet’, our dinghy with a lid is safely tucked up inside a container in the warm and dry, and as JK’s business is marine-related (and he certainly can’t fix boats in his dining room), he is continuing to refit Poppet at the boatyard where his office and workshop is based. JK aims to have the boat back out ‘on show’ at the marina by the beginning of March once the structural upgrades have been completed. Poppet will then be ready for branding, electrical equipment, services, rigging etc. It is the aim to have Poppet ‘water ready’ by the end of April, but she will continue to have cruising equipment and accessories fitted over the Summer.
We have a full program of summer visits, tours, shows, media interviews, charity fundraising and training planned. This all depends on the COVID situation of course. 2021 has not gone to plan so far, and we are only one week in. We are continually monitoring the Covid pandemic, the Brexit situation regarding travel and vessel movements.
More than ever we are relying on our readers and supporter donations to help get us to the launch ramp and to keep our charities funded. To date, we have raised £1475 including GiftAid for our charities, our aim by our arrival back in the UK in 2022 is £50,000. We have now also set up a 'Text To Donate' service.
You can donate directly to our charities directly by text message* To donate £1, text POPPET to 70201
To donate £3, text POPPET to 70331
To donate £5, text POPPET to 70970
To donate £10, text POPPET to 70191
If you would like to find out other ways donating to our charities, or sponsoring our adventure please visit the following pages: Our Charities/ Sponsor Us/ Shop Thank You John-Kenneth and Courtney.
* Fundraising, payments and donations will be processed and administered by the National Funding Scheme (Charity No: 1149800), operating as DONATE. Texts will be charged at your standard network rate. For Terms & Conditions, see www.easydonate.org