Students and staff with a disability from across the North West will have the opportunity to try sailing through the ‘North West Colleges Regatta’, which will take place in Spring of 2018.
However, students and staff of LYIT, University of Ulster, Donegal ETB and North West Regional College do not have to wait that long to sign up. At a recent meeting of the four colleges and Foyle Sailability, the commitment was given and the timetable planning has begun. Each of the colleges is encouraging anyone with a disability in their organisation who is willing to try sailing or even find out more at this stage, to put their name forward.
Malachy O’Neill, Provost of Magee College, University of Ulster said, “We love this initiative and we had no hesitation in supporting it when Foyle Sailability brought the proposal to us”.
Paul Hannigan, President of LYIT added, “We pride ourselves as a college on our inclusivity and the college regatta offers us another interesting way to explore the possibilities of our students and staff getting involved in something a bit different”.
Each college is seeking at least four members to form a team. Anyone interested will be brought together for an introductory session and a number of familiarisation sessions on the fundamentals of sailing before the regatta itself which will take place at Foyle Marina, Derry towards the end of April 2018.
North West Regional College Careers Manager Finneen Bradley said, “We had an active sailing club a number of years back at the College and this event provides the perfect opportunity for us getting it ‘back on the water’, particularly with having the Foyle as a fantastic resource on our doorstep. As a college we fully support this initiative.”
Ciaran O’Brien, Donegal Education and Training Board concluded by saying, “We, at Gartan Outdoor Education Centre, will lend whatever support we can to this initiative. We have a unique opportunity here, not only in terms of sports inclusion and cooperation between colleges on a cross border basis, but also to create friendly college rivalry once the teams are in place”.
Students or staff with a disability, in any of the four colleges wishing to take part should email foylesailability@gmail.com , who will direct you to the college representative in charge.
