In January Durham university sailing club received £150 in development funding from BUSA to help build up a stockpile of second-hand sailing kit for beginner sailors to use in the colder months. It was decided that the money would be used in two ways: approximately £100 to be spent on prizes for a donation drive and raffle; and the remaining £50 to be spent on second hand wetsuits/waterproofs found on facebook/ebay/other sources.
After reaching out to a few potential partners, it was decided to go with Rooster as they offered a good discount with good customer support. The donation drive was opened in mid-March, with approx. £110 spent on prizes worth £200, and closed on the 27th April. In total, 6 wetsuits, two drysuits, two waterproof tops and a few other items were collected/promised to the club. The four lucky winners are all very happy to win some new rooster kit, and are looking forward to receiving them once sizes are swapped.
Overall the drive was relatively successful, helped by the timing overlapping both term time and holidays – so that students could dig through kit at home or at uni (or even their family’s stuff). However it would’ve been good to collect more kit, some limiting factors include the small size of the club and limited amount of redundant kit due to students trying to stretch as much life as possible out of their expensive sailing kit.
We are currently on the hunt for bargains with the remaining £40, with the hope being that spring/summer is the time for people to clear their wardrobe of old and unwanted winter kit. All that remains of our project is buying this kit, and collecting any remaining kit that was promised to the club during the donation drive.