‘Sailing ban stops young gaining vital life lessons’
VULNERABLE children are missing out on life-changing residential trips because ministers will not “use their common sense”, the Prime Minister has been warned.
One of the UK’s most decorated Royal Navy officers has written to Boris Johnson telling him how he has been forced to moor his vessels and leave 1,000 disadvantaged youngsters on the dock.
Rear Admiral Richard Leaman CB OBE, chief executive of the Tall Ships Youth Trust, said: “These children are some of the poorest in the UK and they have been in school for the whole four months of lockdown, with no social distancing.
“They have been going to school on public transport, travelling on buses and tubes, and then cooped up in a classroom all day.
“But, apparently, it’s too risky to go aboard a ship and spend time in the fresh sea air for a week.”
The Tall Ships charity takes away 1,000 children from the inner cities each year for a week’s sailing.
Risk
Many are from broken homes and the groups include youngsters who have been expelled from schools and attend a specialist Pupil Referral Unit.
These children are classified as “vulnerable” by the Department for Education and, because school is a designated safe place for them, they have attended all the way through lockdown.
Despite this, the DfE has stopped them from going on residential sailing voyages because of a perceived risk of coronavirus.
It is not just these children who have been hit by the ruling.
Many tens of thousands of others in the Scouts, Guides and on the Duke of Edinburgh award schemes have also been stopped from camping or going on expeditions.
Rear Admiral Leaman said: “This is completely unnecessary. We are in the bizarre position where two ‘normal’ families can holiday together and use air flight to get there, yet these children cannot.
“I’m increasingly frustrated at what I believe is some kind of political inertia between the Department for Education and the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport. We just want ministers to use their common sense and I’m hoping the PM will help.
“The boats are completely safe, they have been deep cleaned and we can operate a social-distancing policy, which, to be frank, is probably the first time many of the kids will have experienced it – four months after lockdown started.”
His letter to Mr Johnson said: “These vulnerable young people have been treated completely differently to the rest of the population, attending school, and often mixing and playing in ways not permitted for the general public.
“This was mandated by the DfE as this group of youngsters were seen to be at higher risk at home than in a controlled environment.
“The Royal Navy and parts of the merchant service have created safe ‘bubbles’ for crews and been allowed to sail with all hands onboard. It can be done.”
Three-quarters of the children taken to sea are either disadvantaged or disabled yet a recent twoyear project saw 97 per cent of participants going into employment, education or training. Staff aboard the ships work to help the children boost their mental health, wellbeing and fitness as well as improving social skills and academic performance.
They also aim to help the youngsters develop the kind of skills necessary at work.
Emma Bradshaw, executive principal of the Limes College Pupil Referral Unit at Sutton in south London, said: “This is about ‘balance of risk’ for me.
“The kids will have a coronavirus test and it is far less risky for them aboard overnight than leaving them in flats with no gardens, hanging around in parks to be groomed and at risk of exploitation.
“We’re not asking for an immediate start up of residential trips, we are asking we start now with small groups of these children.”
The Department for Culture insisted: “Charities are permitted to arrange day trips.
“People should not stay overnight away from their home with members of more than one other household.”