A group of 10 young people were given the opportunity to sail alongside renowned British kitesurfer and Olympic trainer Maddy Anderson after working hard to develop their skills on a Voyage of Exploration with Tall Ships Youth Trust (TSYT).

The crew of 12 to 15-year-olds, who were sailing as part of a partnership between TSYT and Youth Action Wiltshire (YAW), were joined by British Women’s Kite Foiling Team member Maddy for the final leg of their voyage on Friday 27 October.

Maddy described her time on board one of TSYT’s 72ft Challenger yachts as a ‘really special morning’, after joining the voyage in Warsash and playing a hands-on role in the home stretch to Portsmouth.

The kitesurfer also sat down with the young people on Challenger 3 for a Q&A session about her formative experiences in sailing and the lessons she has learned on her journey to earning international acclaim and becoming part of Team GB’s training squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Maddy said: "These young people have clearly had a really fun week, they’ve been really friendly to chat to and they had some great questions for me.

"I think they will all take different things away from this week, but they’ve clearly worked super well together and it’s really nice to see them working as a team on something that is completely different to everyday life."

As one of the UK’s largest youth development and outdoor learning charities, TSYT has worked with YAW, the national award-winning youth arm of Wiltshire-based charity Community First, since 2016, providing 120 of their young people with a transformational voyaging experience over the past seven years.

Throughout the partnership, the voyages have also been made possible through support from The Hugo Halkes Charitable Trust.

The latest voyage of this partnership gave 10 young people, all selected from Wiltshire Young Carers and Splash Targeted Youth Support Services, a unique opportunity to develop their self-confidence as well as skills in communication, problem-solving, teamwork and leadership.