Round the World Sailor donates £5,000 to Sailing Charity

The official charity of the Clipper 13-14 Race, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, was presented with a cheque for an amazing £5,000 from Peter Smith, 60 from Solihull, one of six members of crew on board De Lage Landen who completed the full circumnavigation of the round the world yacht race last year.
 
The money donated will make a huge difference to the Trust, a nationwide charity that takes young people in recovery from cancer sailing to rebuild their confidence. £5,000 will allow the Trust to take ten more young people, aged 8-24, on a life changing, four day sailing trip around the Isle of Wight.
 
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is the only event of its type. Anyone, even if they have never stepped on a boat before, can join the adventure and circumnavigate the world in an eleven month-long marathon on yachts led by professional skippers.
 
After signing up to the event, Peter set up a fundraising page online, which he used as a blog throughout his training and circumnavigation to update family and friends as well as reminding people he was raising money for the Trust. After each leg he used social media to encourage people to read his blog and donate, money saved from providing their own food at training days pre-race, raffling his own wine collection and sending e-cards at Christmas also contributed to the fantastic total of £5,000.
 
For his on-going support, Peter was recently invited to be an Ambassador for the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, “I am honoured to be chosen as an Ambassador, what the Trust does is amazing and I will be working with them to get the Clipper 13-14 crews focussed on raising money for them. I am excited to continue as part of the Trust and the Clipper Race.”

Peter first learnt about the Trust and their work in 2009, after winning an auction prize for the chance to sail with Ellen MacArthur for the day on an Open 60. After hearing about the work they do, he decided to fundraise for them throughout his Clipper Race voyage, “Each time I talked with people about my race, I let them know I was raising money for the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. The choice to support them was easy, the challenges young people face battling with cancer are huge compared to the challenge I was about to face.”

Clipper Ventures announced in October that it will support the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust as its official charity for the 2013-14 edition of the race. One young person who has previously sailed with the Trust, who is now over 18, will be joining a Clipper 70 for one leg of the journey; from the UK to South America. All 12 Clipper Race crews will be encouraged to fundraise for the Trust throughout the race. 

The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust is a nationwide organisation that supports young people aged 8-24 on their way to recovery from cancer. Launched in 2003 by Dame Ellen MacArthur, the Trust helps young people rebuild their confidence and independence, taking back what is often lost through cancer treatment.To follow the latest on the Trust's involvement with the Clipper Race and find out how you can support them, please visit www.ellenmacarthurcancertrust.org.