Here you can see more detail of what the Boleh Trust delivers.  Beyond the overhead (kept to a minimum, comprising administration, programming, finance, marketing and fundraising) our Trustees manage the sharp end of the Boleh Trust’s business – our Projects – under 4 headings :  Youth Projects,  Adult Projects , Charters, and Operations.  As part of the Boleh ‘can-do’ offering the Trust is authorised to offer training under the RYA Yachtmaster scheme up to the levels of Competent Crew and Watch Leader.

On completion of Boleh’s restoration in 2015, she was MCA coded and despatched to Falmouth for what turned out to be an unsuccessful partnership with a local charity targeting vulnerable adults.  Returning to the Solent, Boleh started youth programmes in earnest, including deploying to Portland to work with the Chesil Sailing Trust.  By the 2018 Season the Boleh Trust was well established with programmes for young people and now sails some 300 annually.

A major youth programme for Boleh targets Service schoolchildren in the Portsmouth and Gosport areas with day sails from Haslar. Many of the children may be the only Service child in their class, feeling isolated among peers with a normal family life.  The aim is to support these children where one parent may be juggling all the demands of running the family home.  The rigours of Service life and family separation are challenging and our programme provides social support for Armed Forces families and aids the individual young person’s health and wellbeing.

The programme in the Portsmouth area works through Pompey’s Military Kids (PMK), a joint initiative set up with the support of an educational psychologist by the Naval Families Federation (NFF) and Portsmouth City Council, and on the other side of the Harbour, with the Gosport and Fareham Multi Academy Trust, part of King’s Group Academies.  Boleh’s day sails, with a specifically designed curriculum, bring Service children together to learn about sailing and Boleh’s ‘can-do’ story and encourage them to interact and form peer support networks – which research has shown Service children need most.

Read the ‘Home Port’ article “Junk cruise is no junket” on Pompey’s Military Kids here.

Our youth programmes give equal priority to other areas where young people face challenge.  In partnership with the Chesil Sailing Trust, we support their ‘Sail-for-a-Fiver’ scheme for Dorset schools, with Boleh based in Portland Marina for a month. We also run programmes for Wiltshire Young Carers, providing respite for children who are the prime carers in their family, and for Field Crafting UK supporting vulnerable young people.  Boleh is also used to entertain and thank the donors so generously supporting these initiatives.

The Trust has delivered sailing programmes for adults since Boleh’s return to the Solent in 2017.  In our first Season we worked with the Army Inshore Sailing Centre at Thorney Island, Help for Heroes and the Gwennili Trust, sailing Service personnel and vulnerable adults.  We became part of the RN Recovery programme for wounded, injured and sick of all 3 Services in 2022, and provide ‘Summer Camp’ cruises for Army Cadets, as well as supporting local adult charities.  Well over 150 adults, including teachers and supervisors, have sailed each year.

Boleh has strong ties to the Armed Services: designed and built by a Naval Officer in Singapore and sailed to the UK by his naval crew in 1950; Sail Training Vessel for the Junior Leaders Regiment RE at Dover in the 1960’s; and owned by the Boleh Trust whose Patron and Trustees include retired Service Officers.  We sail, or have sailed, members of (among others) the Royal Navy, the Royal Engineers, the Rifles, the Royal Wessex Yeomanry, and the Army Inshore Sailing Centre and have links to the RNSA and the REYC.  We also have regular programmes for the Army Cadet Force and our local Military Mentors training organisation.

We are proud that Boleh has been involved in the Royal Navy recovery programme for wounded, injured and sick members of the Armed Services.  Initially for the RN and Royal Marines, the programme of 5 day sailing courses from Haslar was extended to the Army and RAF.  The itinerary depends on weather and ‘patient’ ability with accommodation either ashore or afloat. This flagship course was judged a ‘resounding success’ with course feedback describing the positive impact of the Boleh ‘can-do’ experience delivered by our volunteers.

Boleh is also privileged to be part of the Always a Rifleman Programme which supports members of The Rifles regimental family grappling with the challenges of mental well-being on leaving the Army.  The support provided for these veterans by the Boleh Trust follows the pattern set for the successful RN Recovery Programme.

Boleh’s Portsmouth Harbour base is surrounded by nationally recognised significant areas of deprivation.  Our local Trustees are in touch with many of the charities tackling the issues of poverty, loneliness, and adult mental health which are symptoms of this situation.  We offer our services where we think the Boleh ‘can-do’ message could help.  So far we have engaged with the local branches of Veterans Outreach Support and Andy’s Man Club with a programme of day sails to encourage interaction and build confidence among the vulnerable adults supported.

Each year, in August, we find space in Boleh’s programme to host corporate guests, usually from the defence and marine industries.  Organisations that have enjoyed a fully crewed and catered day on the Solent under this scheme include defence companies QinetiQ and Astute, and ship brokers Clarksons, while GARMIN will be using Boleh for team building.  Boleh is also offered as a regular and popular Charity Auction Prize in the annual MBDA UK’s Charity Dinner held in London, raising funds for good causes, including the Boleh Trust.

Families and friends also have the opportunity to ‘Sail Boleh’ when there is space in her charitable sailing programme.  A day at sea aboard this historic vessel creates memories of the ‘Boleh experience’ which can last a lifetime.  The Trust offers affordable day sails on the Solent from Haslar Marina, Gosport with our professional crew; funds received support our charitable work.  A typical itinerary would be a crossing to the Isle of Wight, with an hour or so ashore for lunch and local shopping, before returning to Gosport.

Boleh, her Historic Vessel status and unique character, are central to the work of the Trust.  To ensure that she can play her part effectively we need to keep Boleh fully compliant with the operational and safety standards demanded by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).  This is policed by our Naval Architect, Graham Westbrook, with Boleh’s annual winter work package, subsequent fitting out and ‘shakedown’, and then maintenance, overseen by Trustee Mark Minshull, assisted by fellow Chartered Engineer David Hadfield.

Trustee and Lead Skipper Richard Metcalfe is responsible for the operational employment of Boleh from her base in Gosport. In an average Season this amounts to 120 days at sea along the South Coast from Eastbourne to Plymouth. Boleh’s annual sailing programme is put together in consultation with our ‘customers’ by Operations Director Craig Coupe – a Yachtmaster Instructor and our only employee.  He then manages the resourcing and delivery of that programme, with our dedicated and valued volunteers filling the Skipper and Mate positions.

Boleh relies on volunteers. They are the face of the Boleh Trust, instructing young people, looking after and encouraging the vulnerable.  Before Boleh starts her annual programme, we must ensure her volunteer crew comply with the standards required by the MCA and are confident with the challenges of Boleh’s unique characteristics. Under Richard’s professional eye and assisted by Craig, RYA qualified and DBS cleared volunteer Skippers and Mates are’ inducted’ in to Boleh’s mysteries. Thereafter, refresher training and assessments are carried out annually.