Jubilee Sailing Trust extends deadline for make-or-break fundraiser

#SaveTheJST © Jubilee Sailing Trust

The Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST) has extended the deadline for its Covid Recovery Campaign to seek to raise the remaining donations required to reach its £500,000 target.

Donations continue to come in almost every minute and our supporters have requested more time to ensure that the campaign reaches its first target and then its second target of £1.2m by the end of September.

Thanks to extraordinary generosity from more than 1200 people and trusts and donations so far, the charity was at an overall figure of £346k raised at at 6pm. This represents 69% of the total target.

All the online giving platforms will remain open and staff will be back after the Easter weekend.

The charity, which provides inclusive adventures onboard its tall ship, SV Tenacious, has been deeply affected by the pandemic, leaving the future of the charity in a desperate situation.

As well as meeting its initial target of £500,000 the charity will also need to raise a total of £1.2 million by the end of September 2022.

JST CEO Patrick Fleming said: "Supporters have been messaging in their droves, asking us to extend the deadline and with such amazing progress happening, the trustees have agreed to keep fundraising.

"We've seen some extremely generous donations from the public with some donating as much as £5,000 and £10,000 at a time. The kindness of our supporters has been demonstrated in how quickly donations have been arriving.

Head of Fundraising, Kate Lloyd, said: "We are immensely grateful for the superb support we are receiving. It's been so incredibly heartening to talk to donors about their time onboard and find out what the JST means to so many, coupled with so much steely determination to keep us going. Please we must keep going, we're so close now!"

To deliver its mission, the sailing charity relies entirely on fundraising and subsidised berths for Tenacious' voyages to fund its operations. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, and with limited opportunities to sail, the charity has suffered losing over £1.4m in revenues.

Patrick added: "The charity doesn't receive any lottery or government funding and we rely solely on individual donors, businesses, partnerships, trusts and foundations who kindly donate to us year after year. We'd like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the incredible support we've seen get us this far. With your help we will succeed.

"Tenacious is the only tall ship in the world that has been adapted to be sailed by a mixed ability crew. If we cannot continue our mission we will have to cease operations, meaning we will no longer be able to offer voyages. If you are able to donate, please do so without delay."

To help the JST continue to transform lives at sea, and raise £1.2 million by the end of September 2022, you can donate here: jubileesailingtrust.enthuse.com/pf/covid-recovery-campaign