After a year of fundraising activities as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations, MDL Marinas has made an amazing donation of £60,000 to Ocean Youth Trust South. This is a charity dedicated to delivering ‘adventure under sail’ to young people aged between 12 and 25.

The £60,000 cheque for Ocean Youth Trust South from MDL Marinas

The £60,000 cheque was presented to the sailing yacht John Laing skipper Andrew Viney at MDL’s Ocean Village Marina in Southampton, with some of the young people the charity supports in attendance. The group came from Community Links, a charity based in Canning Town in East London which runs a wide range of community projects for over 16,000 people every year.

The money was raised through various activities throughout the year in particular during a special charity auction held at this year’s PSP Southampton Boat Show. There were some fantastic lots on offer including a skiing holiday in the Alps, a half-day Land Rover experience, a luxury hotel stay in Devon and a five-night sail training voyage. Funds were also raised through activities at each of MDL’s 19 UK marinas and boatyards throughout 2013, with MDL Marinas matching these amounts to reach the impressive total.

The donation will go towards the build of a brand new training vessel, which will provide ‘adventure under sail’ to young people from the widest possible range of backgrounds. With the charity’s current vessel, John Laing yacht requiring constant maintenance after more than 20 years in service, the new vessel will allow Ocean Youth Trust South to open up the experience to a new group of disadvantaged young people.

Dean Smith, Marketing Director at MDL Marinas, commented: “We are very pleased and proud to have raised a significant amount for such a worthy cause. We have worked with Ocean Youth Trust South for over half of our 40 year history, and so it seemed only natural to further this relationship with fundraising during our anniversary year. It was an honour to be able to present the cheque to the charity, where we know it will be put to very good use.”

Mark Todd, CEO of Ocean Youth Trust South, added: “This donation is a fantastic stepping stone in our quest to raise approximately £3million to build our new training vessel. Whilst we rely on the goodwill of public contributions, we are absolutely delighted to receive such a large donation which puts us closer to our ultimate goal.”