Together Fund

BLYM would like to thank the RYA and Sport England for a generous award of £4,215 from the new “Together Fund”. The Together fund is a continuation of the Tackling Inequalities Fund(TIF) that was set up by Sport England to help the sport and physical activity sector through the COVID pandemic.

The COVID crisis had a disproportionate impact on certain social groups, making it difficult for these groups to either afford or feel able to enjoy, the benefits of water sports. These “Target Groups” can obtain access to BLYM's fund, please see below about how to apply for access.

BLYM has enabled over 200 members of the target groups, drawn primarily from children at local schools (including two whole-year groups from The Reach Free School in Rickmansworth) and from the BAME community, to try sailing or to do some training.

BLYM plans to invest the new money from the Together Fund in:

1. Enabling people from the target groups to keep sailing so that they can become an established group of regular sailors. To achieve this, BLYM would provide accessible, affordable, sailing opportunities and instructor support for training and regular sailing sessions, including RYA training and BLYM membership.
2. To continue generating interest in sailing in new sets of school pupils and people from the target groups, for example by delivering more sailing taster sessions to pupils at local schools.
3. Supporting sailing instructor training and creating opportunities for the continuous development of BLYM’s instructors.

Anyone interested in applying for support from this fund should be able to provide evidence of their situation: in particular, students in receipt of free school meals or households on universal credit. However, BLYM may, at its discretion, decide to support deserving candidates based on other evidence.

To find out more: please contact Ben Constable, Graham Thomas or Chris Hallett via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Enquiries, applications for funding and any awards will be done on a confidential basis. The identities of the applicants in receipt of funds will also be kept confidential.

Reminder for Instructors

Please continue to check the calendar and sign up for any sessions that you would like to help with. We have plenty of groups coming down over the next few months that will need your assistance! If you encounter any problems while signing up, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Safety Boat Course

BLYM will be offering a heavily subsidised safety boat course for instructors and potential wardens who have signed up to teach during the summer, using our Instructor Development and RYA Together fund. We anticipate that the cost will be roughly £40 per person. If you would like to receive a discounted place, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Priority will be given to those who have signed up to teach this summer. In case of high demand, we will prioritise on a first come, first served basis for those teaching.

See you at BLYM soon!