Seas Your Future enables economic sustainability in several ways, responding to :

1. Sustainable Development Goal 8: “Decent Work and Economic Growth”. At the organisational level we are a responsible employer. To ensure the sustainability of the charity, financial performance is monitored and evaluated closely, and reported to quarterly Governance and Finance committee and trustee board meetings. Financial forecasts for five years ahead are produced for monitoring performance and ways of improving financial security are constantly explored.

2. Sustainable Development Goal 1: “No Poverty”. For our clients and for the young people who sail with us we subsidise voyage fees. In July 2020 the charity wrote its 5-year Development Plan, which included a strategic commitment to keep voyage fees as low as possible by seeking donations, grants and fundraising to meet 30% of voyage costs, keeping voyages affordable to enable young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to sail with us.

3. Sustainable Development Goal 4: “Quality Education”. For the young people who sail with us and who work with us the charity enhances career prospects through personal and professional development facilitated by sail training, STEM* education and opportunities for volunteering, cadet training and internships.

Seas Your Future operates the tall ship Pelican of London primarily as a sail training vessel for young people, in the northern hemisphere during the spring and summer months around the UK and Europe, and during the autumn and winter months on a six-month transatlantic educational voyage. We meet our core objectives through:

• Sail Training, enabling young people to discover their abilities, values, passions and responsibilities in situations that offer adventure, challenge and the unexpected,
• unique Maritime Careers opportunities to learn about life on-board, safety at sea, seamanship, navigation, engineering, teamwork and much more,
• voyages for studying Ocean Science, changes to the marine environment and climate, to young people who care passionately about safeguarding the planet,
• ensuring that voyages are open to all young people by seeking to subsidise costs for those that cannot pay,
• expanding Sail Training capacity and specialist voyages over the next five years, to meet increasing demand.

The ship has berth capacity for up to 35 trainees and 12 crew and volunteers and has been undertaking Sail Training voyages since 2007. We aim to sail for 48 weeks every year and our sailing programme is normally agreed 12-24 months in advance. In April 2022 we acquired a second ship, the Fridtjof Nansen, which is of similar size and slightly higher capacity to Pelican, with the ability to take up to 43 youngsters, and after a major refit will be ready for sailing in December 2022.

Taking the long view, Seas Your Future indirectly contributes to the Socio-Economic sustainability of individuals, by providing personal and professional development opportunities:

• Top 10 Employability Skills (2023) (teamwork, communication, leadership, motivation, reliability, self-management, analytical skills, administration and, emotional intelligence),
• STEM Education,
• opportunities for volunteering as SIR or STEM lead,
• Volunteering as Deck Hand or Watch Leader,
• Cadets training,
• Internships and apprenticeships.

*STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering Maths