Here at Tyl by NatWest, we’re keen to do our bit to make the world a better place. One way we do that is through our Giveback Community Fund. With Giveback, we make a donation for every transaction taken using Tyl to a range of fantastic charities operating across the UK. One of those is the Sea-Change Sailing Trust.
Sea-Change Sailing Trust is based in Maldon in Essex. It takes groups of young people and vulnerable adults on residential voyages on board its purpose-built Thames sailing barge, Blue Mermaid. But these trips aren’t about teaching people how to sail. Through living together onboard the barge and playing a full role in sailing it, they learn vital transferrable skills such as better communication, teamwork and resilience – all of which will help them in their normal lives. An added bonus is that it provides a big boost to their self-esteem.
Helping Simon to blossom
Simon is a great example of someone who has benefitted from the trust’s activities. Simon had a challenging time at school, struggling to concentrate on his studies, skipping lessons to go smoking and falling out with his teachers. In fact, he spent much of his time at school in what he describes as solitary confinement, kept away from other pupils. As a result, he fell behind badly.
But Simon’s life began to change at the age of 14, when he started sailing with Sea-Change Sailing Trust. He discovered he could make a valuable contribution to life on a barge, and also that he had a good head for heights when working high up on the sail. The following summer he spent most of the school holidays on board, and when he started college he was occasionally paid as a working member of crew. During his time sailing he developed an impressive work ethic that he eventually put to good use by starting his own business, which has proven a great success.
Tyl’s donations are having a big impact
Most of the people the Sea-Change Sailing Trust works with are experiencing disruption and deprivation in their lives and cannot fund their own voyage. Our donation helps ensure that the people who would benefit most from the skills they can develop on a residential voyage are not prevented from doing so due to a lack of funds. As we saw with Simon, the results can truly be life-changing.
More about Giveback
The Giveback Community Fund is at the heart of our business here at Tyl: with every card transaction our customers take, we donate a portion to the Giveback Community Fund, to support good causes. So, the more successful our Tyl customers are, the bigger the Tyl Giveback Community Fund grows, the bigger the impact we can have in our customers’ local communities – it’s a win-win-win situation. We hope to bring more and more charities into the Giveback fold as time goes on. Watch this space.