With our sail training, STEM* education and ocean science programmes, Seas Your Future promote personal development through improving confidence and resilience of young people. Our trainees disembark with work experience in the maritime sector, enhanced knowledge and transferrable skills that are sought after in multiple career paths, and many develop new career aspirations and professional aptitudes.

Our work with young people, many of whom are from disadvantaged or under-represented backgrounds, aligns with the ethos of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of supporting a strong and sustainable society based on thriving individuals. The feedback we receive from our trainees, their parents and teachers indicates that positive outcomes from time on board are long-lasting and, in some cases, life-changing.

• Our professional crew, including the cook, medic and STEM educator, encourage trainees to look their health and wellbeing (SDG 3).
• We provide quality education and training through hands-on experience for skills and knowledge development in sailing and STEM subjects (SDG 4). For example, trainees explore the base of the marine food web under the microscope and undertake surveys of top predators, marine mammals and big fish, for the Sea Watch Foundation.
• Our trainees develop desirable employability skills, including:
  • Teamwork,
  • Communication,
  • Leadership,
  • Motivation,
  • Reliability,
  • Self-management,
  • Analytical skills and,
  • Emotional Intelligence. 
• They are in a rota of watches that are, with the support of professional crew, responsible for helming and keeping look-out, sail handling, mooring and harbour/anchor watches, cleaning the ship and supporting the cook (SDG 8).
• We showcase a wide range of professional pathways, including all aspects of merchant navy careers, catering, education, medicine, STEM subjects and research (SDG 8).
• We are one team and foster an atmosphere of mutual support, respect, equality and integration and embrace diversity (SDG 5 & 10).

SYF socioeconomic impact and feedback summary

*STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering Maths