This month we welcomed Peter Yeoman to talk to us about the 'Lively Lady' project. Based in Portsmouth this charity, founded by Alan Priddy and a group of Portsmouth businessmen in 2004, used Sir Alec Rose's yacht 'Lively Lady' to once again sail around the globe with crews of youngsters from the deprived inner city areas of Portsmouth.
Sir Alec Rose (above) circumnavigated the globe back in 1968 so there was a need for an extensive refit of the 36ft yacht Lively Lady before she could sail around the world again. They originally recruited 52 young people aged twelve to eighteen from the inner city and spent the next two years raising funds and preparing them for their life-changing adventure. Not everyone made the trip but they eventually set sail from Portsmouth on July 28th 2006 with a crew of two adults and two youngsters on the first of twenty eight legs around the world. Lively Lady made her way across the Atlantic for her first stop in St Johns Newfoundland and Pete described the tough conditions that those onboard endured. At each stop the youngsters and sometimes the adult crew would change before setting off for the next destination. Pete was originally booked to complete three or four legs but work considerations reduced that to two.The Lively Lady finally returned to Portsmouth on 5th July 2008 and Pete was pleased to tell us that they still keep in touch with most of the youngsters involved and all had made great improvements in their lives.
Now after an almost complete rebuild taking several years the Lively Lady is once again ready to circumnavigate the globe. Thank you Pete for a most interesting talk and we wish you and the charity, now re-named Around and Around, every good luck in the future.
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