Note: Names have been changed to protect the identity of participants.
Alex came to the Moving On Employment Project (MOEP) in July 2022 after being referred to the Transition Service by his Support Worker at Forward Directions. Forward Directions is part of the Eric Gray Centre and supports young people with learning disabilities, autism and other conditions. Alex was previously supported by the Developing the Young Workforce (DWP) Service and was keen to go on to receive support from the Transition Service provided by MOEP.
Over the course of several months, Alex undertook work experience at the Shetland Community Bike Project and started a 6 month paid placement in October 2022. At the end of the placement, Alex was supported to undertake activities and gain meaningful employment.
In April 2023 Alex was encouraged to attend a day sail on the Shetland sailboat The Swan, he could be offered a place on the Tall Ships race in August 2023, sailing from Shetland to Norway and back. Alex was chosen following the day sail as he was very capable at sea and showed a great interest in the Swan.
In June 2023 Alex began work full-time at a local Fruit and Vegetable distributor. His confidence and skills have improved significantly and he quickly became a valued member of the team. He was able to get leave to take part in the Tall Ships Race in August 2023. Below is an account of his trip, shared with the Swan Trust.
My trip with the Swan started in Lerwick, we set sail and on our way behind Bressay, we had a little electric fault meaning a return to the harbour to fix this before setting off again – second time lucky! This time we set off, sailing until we got to the starting point, which was in the middle of the North Sea. This is where we started the real sailing, using just the wind for the race, until we got to around 3am and we could use our engines again, I was on the night watch when this happened.
As we arrived in Norway, we explored a few islands with ‘Boy Leslie’ and ‘The Jolly Breeze’. We sailed through these islands until we found and stopped at our overnight spot. The captain of the Boy Leslie knew the islands really well. He let us all know the interesting history of the one in particular – the island used to have massive trees and people would cut these down to sell, until Norway finally set the laws that licences would be needed to cut down trees, but not after the island had basically lost most of the massive trees it once had.
Before we set off again, we switched crews with the Boy Leslie and then set sail for Arendale. In Arendale, we all docked and spent 4 nights there. The first night was a rest evening, to help us all recover. Then we played football with other crewmembers, there were many activities for everyone to take part in, but I particularly enjoyed playing football again, it had been a while since I had played.
The swan crew took part in the parade – that was loud and fun! We were welcomed with lots of excitement. We did not win any prizes in this prizegiving but we came runner up the friendliest ship. We had an enjoyable next few days in Norway, free time and even a game of laser tag. I was surprisingly accurate with my shots.
Then it was time to return home, this was a bit rougher than the leg to get there. We stopped off at a few places and it took a bit longer than expected due to the weather, but with a South Easterly wind, we were able to use our sails for part of the journey – hitting about 6.4knts. Then we put the engine back on to return to Lerwick. We even took a fun little bet as to when we would get in – I won the closest time!
I would love to do it again, it was great fun, and I met so many different and kind people. I would recommend others to apply and have the same experience of a lifetime that I did.
Moving forward, I would love to get more involved in helping on the Swan and I think I might see if there is any volunteering to do be done over the winter months.
Since that time Alex has passed his Driving Theory Test and recently passed his driving test!
