Seafaring opportunities for young people thanks to maritime training grant
Picture by Tom Arran Commercial Photography
Young people in Hull are to have the chance to train for a career at sea thanks to £75,000 of funding from a maritime charity.
Hull Maritime Foundation, chaired by Lord Haskins, has secured the funding from the Trinity House Maritime Charity (THMC) to deliver recognised training to 100 people aged between 16 and 25.
By working with a training provider specialising in fishing and offshore industries, the new Maritime Futures programme, delivered by the Hull Maritime project, will give young people the opportunity to achieve the qualifications needed, as well as reconnecting them with Hull’s rich maritime heritage.
The training is recognised by employers, the Maritime Coastguard Agency, and international bodies, and aims to ensure that 75 per cent of those completing the course secure employment within 12 months of completion.
The intensive course covers key areas, including personal survival techniques, elementary first aid, basic firefighting, health and safety, basic engineering, basic navigation, raft building, gear and net-mending, boat handling, galley duties, and on-board procedures.
It also trains suitable candidates, over an intensive three-week course, on all essential aspects of fishing. Trainees gain 12 certificates and will have the opportunity to work with trawlermen of the past through engagement with Arctic Corsair volunteers as part of the programme.
Lord Chris Haskins, chairman of Hull Maritime Foundation, said: "We are deeply grateful to the Trinity House Maritime Charity for their funding.
“The key aim of this new programme is to provide young people in Hull with a meaningful training opportunity, providing skills and qualifications which lead to employment in the maritime sector, whilst learning about how the industries made Hull the city that it is today.”
Commodore Martin Atherton, OBE RN, Secretary to the Corporation of Trinity House, said: “Trinity House is delighted to be able to support the Maritime Futures programme, made possible by a pool of funds given to the Trinity House Maritime Charity by the Department for Transport.
“Not only will it give young people the opportunity to gain recognised training and qualifications to enable them to enter a career in the fishing and offshore industry, the programme will also play an important part in reconnecting Hull with its maritime history.”
All funding secured by the Hull Maritime Foundation supports the £30m Hull Maritime project in delivering its plans to create one of the best maritime experiences in the UK. The grant will contribute towards a £2.6m funding gap to support the wider Hull Maritime project, the project said.
Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Hull City Council, five key maritime treasures — Arctic Corsair, North End Shipyard, Spurn Lightship, Dock Office Chambers, and Hull Maritime Museum — will be transformed by the Hull Maritime project.