Girl, 10, bids for funding and wins £2,000 for club

HENLEY Sailing Club has been awarded a £2,000 grant thanks to a grant application written by a 10-year-old member.

Charlotte Blunden entered the Funding the Future grant competition run by sailing holiday company Sunsail in May.

With the help of her mother, Amy, the application she wrote on behalf of the club in Willow Lane, Wargrave, came in as runner-up at the awards, which were announced on the opening day of the Southampton International Boat Show last month.

The money will be used to make sailing more inclusive and increase access for children to the sport.

Mrs Blunden, who is on the club’s membership committee, said that it planned to set up a sub-committee where the members could include families and children to help choose what the money would be spent on.

Henley Sailing Club currently has 240 members, is volunteer-led and has been running for more than 100 years.

It has two Optimist boats, a single-handed boat which is considerably smaller than a standard sailing boat. It has shorter ropes and is well-suited for children to sail due to its size and difficulty to capsize.

They were given the second boat by a journalist for sailing publication Yacht and Yachting Online, who spoke to Charlotte and her younger brother James, eight, after the show.

Charlotte recalled being around sailing for as long as she could remember. Her grandfather, John Crawford, who lives in Shiplake, has been a member of the club for more than 50 years and gifted her a life jacket when she was a baby.

Her application read: “Hi! I’m Charlotte Blunden and I’m 10 years old. I’m a member of Henley Sailing Club. I go to the club most weekends with my family. My little brother, James, has just started sailing an Optimist by himself. My mum’s on the committee, and my dad and grandpa help out with club duties like safety boat and officer of the day.

“We’re a small, friendly, volunteer-run club. Everyone knows each other and we all help out. Some members are new to sailing and some (like my grandpa) have sailed forever.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t have your own boat… you can still sail, make friends and be part of the club.”

Charlotte explained that the number of children sailing at the club had increased and that the money would be used to buy a second-hand boat and children’s life jackets.

The club holds its own competition for juniors, the Mackay Cup, which this year saw five boats with seven children racing. The oldest competitor was 14 and the youngest was four.

Charlotte said it wasn’t too difficult to write the application. She said: “I think it was actually quite easy because there is a lot to say about our club so it came together.”

She said that one of her favourite parts about sailing was feeling the wind in her hair, adding: “I like being out on the water in general. It gives the feeling that you are free of the land for a bit.”

James agreed with his sister, adding that he enjoyed the “strategic” thinking involved in commanding a boat.

Mrs Blunden said that she hoped the club existed to challenge preconceptions some may hold about the sport.

She described its membership as very friendly and community-focused. It does not run beginner courses but Mrs Blunden said it had members willing to share knowledge or perhaps take people out. “We have some amazing members,” she said.

“We are always welcoming people who are interested in getting involved in sailing, or picking it up again or even returning to it after trying it on holiday.”

Commodore Graeme Kerr said it was an exciting time for the club. He said: “We’re currently embarking on a strategy to improve our facilities and attract new members.

“We want to attract families so that future generations discover the pleasure of sailing on the Thames.

“The win will help us improve what we can offer to our junior members — the upgrading of boats and improved social facilities on shore.

“We’re a friendly club — come see what we have to offer.”