Bermuda Sun – May 30th 2003 $300,000 boost for training ship By Patrick Bean Rather than looking for ‘A Few Good Men’ the Bermuda Sloop Foundation (BSF) promises to produce the next batch of male and females to lead Bermuda into the future. And in welcoming a $300,000 windfall from Fidelity International Limited Foundation (FIL), the BSF moved a step closer to realising their goal through the building of a 17th century replica of a Bermuda Sloop, which will act as a floating classroom offering expeditionary learning. Former Premier and Education Minister Dr. David Saul and retired lawyer Frank Mutch both extolled the importance of the concept of ‘hand in hands on training’, especially in the highly technical age today’s youth find themselves. They further saluted the programme’s relevance to the island’s maritime past as well as its team and character building traits. And with the programme being administered in conjunction with the Education Department to the broadest cross-section of students on curricular (part-time) and extra-curricular (full-time) bases a win-win situation presents. “I have little doubt that Bermuda’s future leaders are going to come from those students who do the full stint on this sloop,” Dr. Saul, also a FIL trustee, told the Bermuda Sun. “We think the whole concept is really terrific, modern youth need something a little advanced over cadet corps that we used to have in my youth and the whole history of Bermudian culture is based around the sea and this sloop will be a perfect thing for introducing children, teenagers — boys and girls — from public and private schools into (a) our past; (b) and more importantly, their future,” Fellow FIL trustee Mr. Mutch further stressed the importance of participation with an eye toward long term application. “It will be a real character builder for those that stick with the programme, so this is a project well worth pursuing and one that can be successful and involve participation throughout the school system,” Mr. Mutch said. “I think the real impact is going to be trying to encourage those who will actually sign up for the full programme. “The others are going to get a taste of it on a broader scale, but the ones that sign up and there will be available scholarships for those that need them, I think it will give them real incentive, not only to learn about the sea, but to learn something that will help them in their working lives going forward.” The programme is viewed as a step above already established youth outreach schemes such as Duke of Edinburgh Award, Sea Cadets, Outward Bound and the like, as it raises the bar in the areas of adventure and training, while all the while encapsulating the traditional classroom subjects — Math, English, Science, etc. “We see the cadets, Outward Bound, Duke of Edinburgh and the other youth organisations benefiting immensely from this programme, because it’s an opportunity for them to do things right here in Bermuda and that’s why the Sea Cadets decided to gravitate towards this programme as quickly as we could,” Sea Cadet Corps commander W. Anthony Lightbourne said. “Ironically we have cadets that want to go one step higher and with this we have the framework in place for electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, all those types of things.” BSL chairman Alan Burland noted the BSL’s appreciation of FIL for their contribution, which represents an endowment toward the educational and future programmes. There’s still the matter of getting the boat built, with $3million needed to get the process started. Mr. Burland revealed that close to $2,400,000 has been raised thus far and plans were to start construction in September. “We’re getting a lot closer and it really helps to show that there are businesses in Bermuda, such as Fidelity, that support the programmes and are very sincere and we hope that the other stakeholders will look at David and Frank’s comments and talk with us and hopefully get behind the Sloop Foundation to make it a reality.”