Hykeham Scouts - awarded £10k from Sport England for new boats

Two new Laser Bahias for Hykeham Scout group

The 15th Lincoln (North Hykeham) Scouts group will be able to offer even more and better opportunities to get local youngsters out on the water next summer after being handed a £10,000 funding boost by Sport England.

Thanks to the grant, the Scouts have two brand new state-of-the-art Laser Bahia dinghies to offer a stable teaching platform with the potential to stretch the Scouts as their abilities improve.

Sailing is a major part of the Scouts’ outdoor activities programme, providing not only the opportunity to get out on the water, but gain RYA qualifications, develop their racing skills as members of local clubs and even become instructors themselves if they wish.

But for the past couple of years the group has been restricted in the number of people who could sail at any one time due a very tired dinghy fleet. Now the future looks bright as the new Bahias mean up to 10 more people can sail at the same time.

The Scouts’ grant application was supported by Howard Nelson, ACC Activities. Howard said: “For people to stay in any sport they have to enjoy taking part. People are more likely to enjoy themselves if organisations have first-class equipment. These new boats are an exciting addition to the Scouts’ training fleet and will hopefully play a big part in turning more people into regular sailors.”