Island Sailing Club makes fundraising fashionable

Over 100 ladies got together to enjoy a fashion show and luncheon at the Island Sailing Club in April, raising £549 for Cowes Sailability Club.  This much-appreciated donation provides an early boost to Cowes Sailability Club’s new fundraising appeal for a wheelchair-accessible motorboat.   

“We want to be able to offer more boating trips for children and adults with learning difficulties and physical disabilities,” says Trish Rooke, Fundraising Officer at Cowes Sailability Club. “That’s why we are launching a new fundraising appeal, with the aim of raising enough money to purchase a wheelchair-accessible motorboat of our own.  We are so grateful to the Island Sailing Club for its donation, which gets our appeal off to a great start.”

The fashion show was organised by Island Sailing Club in association with the fashion retailer Mia, which has clothing shops across the Isle of Wight.  Tickets sold out long before the event, and the guests thoroughly enjoyed seeing the latest summer styles.  The money for Cowes Sailability Club was raised through a raffle, with many fashion-themed prizes including handbags.

Earlier this year, Barry Myland, a volunteer from Cowes Sailability Club, gave a presentation to members of Island Sailing Club about the work that the charity does in helping to make sailing more accessible to people with disabilities.  Following this presentation, a committee member at Island Sailing Club suggested making Cowes Sailability Club the featured charity at the fashion show. 

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