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MARINE INDUSTRY CARES SPIN-A-THON
The Marine Industry Cares Foundation is a new non-profit organization in Ft. Lauderdale that will officially launch with
the third annual Spin-A-thon, a fundraising event benefitting Kids in Distress (KID).
“We saw great enthusiasm in the marine industry for helping causes, which provided us with an opportunity to build
a bridge between the maritime community and local charities benefitting children and families,” said Peter Hult,
vice president of MHG Insurance Brokers and a director of Marine Industry Cares.
The first two Spin-A-Thons provided abused and neglected children with more than $100,000. This year, Marine Industry
Cares plans to triple the involvement and raise more than $250,000 for KID.
If you’d like to participate in this event, you can organize your own spin team or become an event sponsor. Visit www.
marineindustrycares.org for more information.
“Sunsail is proud to be working with The Ellen MacArthur
Cancer Trust and to be able to help the trust enrich
the lives of young people who have been through
so much,” said Cheryl Powell, Sunsail’s chief operating
officer. “Not only is it good to be able to give something
back, but it is a real pleasure to be able to introduce
young people into a sport that we at Sunsail are
so passionate about.”
In the same way that The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust
helps young cancer sufferers gain confidence through sailing,
the Toe in the Water (www.toeinthewater.org) initiative
hopes to inspire military service personnel who have
sustained traumatic injuries, including the loss of limbs.
The charity was set up in 2008 by Captain Holly King
and Tanya Brookfield, who has a background in running
professional yacht racing teams. The team now consists
of Wo2 Royal Engineer Lloyd Hamilton and army doctor
Tom Wood, who work hand-in-hand with specialist
complex trauma physiotherapists Jane McLenaghan and
Kate Sherman from the Defence Medical Rehabilitation
Centre at Headley Court.
Tanya said: “The aim of the initiative is simple: to provide
injured servicemen and women with a challenging,
demanding environment in which they can compete on
an equal footing with their peers.” The keen sailor explained
that yacht racing remains one of the few arenas
in which people with traumatic injuries can compete
against able-bodied people. Sailing is ideal, not least of
all because it offers a wide range of different physical
and mental challenges.
Toe in the Water works closely with the world-leading rehabilitation
effort at Headley Court to give injured service-
men the chance to compete in sailing at a high level whilst
improving their self-confidence and outlook on life.
To keep Toe in the Water afloat, the charity is entirely
dependant on private contributions as well as volunteers
from the military and civilian sailing communities. “However,
the focus shouldn’t be on the hurdles for Toe in the
Water or how we have overcome them,” Tanya said. “Any
issues that we as an organization have faced pale into insignificance
when compared to those that the injured men
and women that are referred to us have to battle against.
“It can be unnerving for an able-bodied, non-sailor to step
on board a yacht, but compare that to an injured serviceman
who only six months ago was fighting in the desert with the
use of all his limbs and at the peak of fitness. For that man,
who may have only recently learnt to walk again with a prosthetic
limb, stepping onto a moving boat will put him into
yet another totally unfamiliar environment which will require
him to be both quick and dynamic with his movements and
stability whilst also learning a new skill set.
“In perspective,” Tanya added, “the hurdle that Toe in the
Water presents in their rehabilitation pathway is relatively
small, but crucially, it can be the turning point and a stepping
stone to getting on with the rest of their life.”
Suzanna Chambers worked for the Mail on Sunday, Sunday
Express and News of the World before moving to
the south of France in 2003. She is now property editor
for US magazine France Today and writes articles for various
news publications, lifestyle magazines and websites.
Her love of yachts began went she went sailing with her
father as a child in Poole Dorset, England.
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