Celebrating Our 2024 Social Impact Achievements.
Cobnor Activities Centre Trust (CACT) changes lives by providing high-quality, educational and fun activities for young people in West Sussex and surrounding areas.
Through our social impact programmes, we offer subsidised access to land and water-based activities in Chichester Harbour, focusing on vulnerable and disadvantaged young people.
By addressing barriers such as social deprivation, mental health challenges and disabilities, we aim to boost self-esteem, build resilience and empower participants to shape a brighter future. Our programmes help fill our low-footfall months and occasional available bookings, benefiting the charity. Furthermore, both our activity instructors and team of volunteers find great enjoyment in delivering these programmes, which support disadvantaged young people.
Cobnor Activities Centre Trust
Cobnor Activity Centre Trust (CACT) is an independent charity offering outdoor activities in Chichester Harbour. Fully accredited, CACT provides land-based activities like aeroball, archery, climbing and orienteering and water-based activities like sailing and paddling, following the RYA and Paddle UK pathways. With programmes like RYA Onboard, Sailability and Paddle-Ability, CACT supports individuals with learning and physical disabilities. Focused on young people who lack access to such opportunities, CACT promotes well-being, self-esteem and fosters a sense of achievement, empowering participants to lead active lives and develop transferable life skills.
Thank you for a lovely afternoon of sailing. My daughter really enjoyed herself and didn’t stop talking about it. She said she felt really relaxed, felt quite free and calm. She enjoyed it more than last time. She would happily attend again. She particularly loved jumping in the water!
– Parent of Young Helms 2024
A Legacy of Youth Empowerment
Since 1958, Martin Beale, the landowner of Cobnor Point, supported West Sussex County Council’s (WSCC) youth programme by providing the site for summer activities aimed at helping vulnerable young people. Over time, Martin collaborated more closely with the council to deliver programmes that introduced young people to sailing in Chichester Harbour, using what is now Cobnor Activities Centre. By the 1990s, the WSCC Youth Service, under the leadership of Martin Tomlinson, earned recognition as one of the most outstanding youth services in the country. However, government funding cuts led to a decline in the WSCC Youth Service. Without ongoing financial support from WSCC, Cobnor Activities Centre Trust, established in 1979, became an independent registered charity in 1996.
CACT Young Helms Programme
The Young Helms Programme, launched by Cobnor Activities Centre Trust in 2021, has grown significantly, expanding from 15 participants in its first year to nearly 200 in 2024. We are thrilled to have recently partnered with the FatFace Foundation, whose generous three-year funding will enable groups to return annually, fostering lasting relationships and deepening their connection with the programme.
Beneficiaries of the 2024 programme were:
A Chichester based charity supporting young people aged 11-25 struggling with mental health.
Chichester based support group for young people with disabilities to live, learn and work.
Provides a safe environment for young people and adults, including a group of autistic young adults who thoroughly enjoyed their Young Helms experience.
Provides social education, support and advice to young people.
Supports young people up to 25 years with learning difficulties and disabilities.
Secondary school in area of high deprivation (OFSTED 2022) 56.5% eligible FSM (gov.uk 2024).
CACT Multi Activity Summer Camp with Bassil Shippam and Alsford Trust
In 2024, we partnered with our local primary school, Chidham Parochial Primary School, to identify ways to support families in our community facing significant financial hardship during the summer holidays. With funding from the Bassil Shippam and Alsford Trust, we provided six pupils with fully funded places on our Summer Activity Camp, including lunch.
The children were selected by the head teacher based on mental health and wellbeing needs, status as Looked After Children (LAC), eligibility for Free School Meals (Pupil Premium), or having an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)—a legal document outlining special educational needs, disabilities, and required health or social care support.
The Scaramouche Trust with the RYA Foundation Fund
Since 2014, The Scaramouche Sailing Trust has introduced over 1,000 inner-city students from Greig City Academy in North London to the sport of sailing, transforming their lives. The students have improved attendance and academic performance, developed life skills, competed at national sailing events, and accessed new career opportunities. This initiative has also significantly increased diversity in sailing and received widespread press attention.
Thanks to funding, CACT has partnered with the Greig City Academy and The Scaramouche Sailing Trust to provide students with access to sailing during our quieter months in 2024/2025. Over five residential weekends, 10 students will complete a sailing programme to achieve their RYA Levels 1 and 2, equipping them for further sailing and racing opportunities on their local reservoir and in the Solent.
The CACT Hedley Foundation Get Afloat Programme
For many years, we have partnered with Stonepillow, a Chichester-based charity that empowers homeless individuals to transform their lives. This collaboration enables us to extend the benefits of outdoor activities to vulnerable members of our community.
The CACT Hedley Foundation Get Afloat programme supported young men from Stonepillow’s Recovery programme, providing opportunities to build life skills such as self-confidence, resilience and teamwork. From September to October, participants attended twice a week for four weeks, enjoying activities like keelboat sailing, kayaking and the ever-popular powerboating. On less favourable weather days, they participated in climbing, campcraft and archery. Each session ended with a hot lunch alongside Cobnor staff, fostering connections and creating a warm, social environment.
Sight Support Worthing
Since reaching out to Sight Support Worthing at the end of 2023, we have delivered various programmes for different groups supported by the charity. Participants have enjoyed activities such as keelboat sailing and adapted land-based activities like archery. To strengthen our partnership, the charity has delivered training for all our staff to better support participants who are blind or visually impaired. Looking ahead, we are exploring the possibility of hosting residential Family Fun Weekends in 2025.
Duke of Edinburgh Award at CACT
With a longstanding residential and expedition license for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, CACT is committed to supporting schools in delivering the programme on-site. In line with our core mission and values, we aim to focus particularly on reaching more disadvantaged young people in the local community.
Funding has been approved for four participants in the local community to enable them to achieve their Bronze award alongside their peers.
CACT’s Apprenticeship Scheme
Our apprenticeship programme provides further support for young people in the local community. By targeting disadvantaged young people, the programme is a cost-effective way for CACT to recruit and develop young talent at the same time as giving back to the community. On completion, it is anticipated that the apprentices will be offered the opportunity to remain with CACT as full-time employees or supported to move on in the industry. The ongoing programme will create a pipeline of professionally qualified young talent.
Looking to 2025
We are excited to have already received funding for a number of our programmes for 2025 and we have reached out to even more disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in our local community including:
A local charity dedicated to building a supportive community that equips and empowers individuals with limb differences.
A local organisation that supports independent living while offering training in horticulture, cooking, carpentry and retail skills.
Offers practical, social and pastoral support to refugee families and asylum seekers in the Chichester area.
SEND and PRU Behaviour Unit
These schools face increasing demand for experiential learning opportunities despite significant decreases in funding over the years.
Full Social Impact Report can be found here.
