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Leading Merseyside education and arts benefactor Lady Anne Dodd opened the new office in Birkenhead for charity Mersey Adventure Sailing Trust (MAST) on Thursday 20 April.
Lady Anne, the widow of comedy legend Sir Ken Dodd also officially launched the Sir Ken and Lady Dodd Tall Ship Sailing Experience 2023 in which young trainee crews participate in voyages aboard traditional sailing Tall Ships to compete for the Sir Ken Dodd Cup.
MAST is a charity that enables young people from all backgrounds from across Merseyside to participate in crewing tall ships; large, traditionally-rigged sailing vessels.
This provides young people with the opportunity to develop themselves through guidance and practical support. The charity aims to give young people the chance to experience life at sea, to find excellence and respect, and to build their aspirations.
Through training at sea, the young people can develop communication skills, build self-confidence, use their initiative, and learn to be part of a team.
Lady Anne said, “Happiness is the greatest gift that we possess, as Ken sang. We can achieve this by working together and sharing joy as a team. MAST is the perfect embodiment of this principle and the reason why I am thrilled to be involved with it to support the young people of Merseyside.
“Ken was very interested in helping young people in Merseyside to get on in life and he’d be very proud of having his name associated with an organisation like MAST which is doing so much for them.”
Main image: (L-R) MAST Trustee Peter Elson, Lady Anne Dodd, Lord-lieutenant Mark Blundell, MAST Trustee Trevor Mawhinney, MAST Trustee Kevin Rodgers, MAST Ambassador Sheelagh McGovern, and Kieran Wilkes
Images: www.fotopiaimages.com
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