All female team takes helm of national sailing charity
all started for me,’ she said. ‘My primary aim is to help the trust emerge from the pandemic, get back to delivering youth work to the young people who need it most and to support our staff and volunteer base to get back on the water safely.’
Her appointment will mean the management team at the charity is entirely female in an industry traditionally dominated by men.
The management team consists of general manager Hazel Wiseman and head of fundraising and PR Ashley Mabon.
Peta has worked in sail training for six years; her enthusiasm and work ethic having caught the attention of the trust while sailing on a youth voyage from Inverness to Oban, aged 15.
On being invited to return as a volunteer bosun, Peta soon joined the trust as a cadet before working her way up to first mate. In 2016, she moved to the charity’s sister organisation, Ocean Youth Trust South, as sailing support officer but was quickly promoted to staff skipper at just 23 years old, commanding the charity’s 32m ketch ‘Prolific’.
The trust has been unable to deliver its youth work since March 2020 and recently joined politicians in a campaign fronted by Scottish adventurers Mollie Hughes and Marc Beaumont to launch a vision paper, Thriving Through Residential Outdoor Education. The paper seeks to guarantee all young people in Scotland the chance to benefit from residential outdoor education experiences.
On International Women’s Day 2019, the World Sailing Trust released its Strategic Review into Women in Sailing, a report that highlighted the gender imbalance in the world of sailing, while making a case for change to address disparities within the sport.
The report identified a lack of female participation and support for women and girls as well as a poor perception of women in sailing. This is an issue OYT Scotland has worked to address with the introduction of female only voyages scheduled in 2022.
‘My experience is that sail training as an industry has good gender diversity and I have worked with some incredible women,’ added Peta.
‘However, the industry still has further to go to become more diverse.
‘I have been lucky to have had some incredible female mentors in my career who have helped and inspired me.
‘As a sail training charity, we are well placed to help inspire young women to consider a career in sailing but also to be inspired by our diverse range of successful female volunteers and to follow the career ambitions they choose.’
Ocean Youth Trust Scotland is a floating outdoor education centre based in Greenock, supporting more than 700 young people each year through week-long residential youth work voyages at sea.
The charity works predominantly with those from disadvantaged backgrounds, young carers, care experienced young people or those with additional support needs.
Aboard its two sail training vessels, the trust delivers life-changing voyages, furnishing young people with life and social skills, teaching them about team work, resilience, responsibility and environmental awareness.
Hazel Wiseman, general manager of OYT Scotland, commented: ‘We’re excited to have Peta joining the management team, bringing with her a wealth of experience in youth work and sail training as we look to emerge from this pandemic.
‘As the world comes together to mark International Women’s Day, we want to celebrate the fact OYT Scotland is led and managed by an entirely female team in an industry where women have not always been equally represented.’