What are Open Ship events?
Open Ship events are an opportunity to showcase the Jubilee Sailing Trust and raise awareness of what we do. We want many more people to hear about our voyages and understand why our work is so exciting!
Hosting an Open Ship is a fantastic way to do this. Members of the public or potential partners can come on board, have a look round the ship and learn more about the JST and Tenacious. They will see key features of the ship and learn about ship life, above and below deck. In a nutshell, we want them to come away wanting more – so they book a voyage or enquire about how they can support us.
Our Open Ship events are made possible by our fabulous branches, volunteers and voyage crew. We are lucky to have an incredible community of people who are our best ambassadors, championing the JST and helping us to get the word out.
How can you help us?
We’d love you to be part of our Open Ship events. There’s a number of ways you can help out:
- You can volunteer to be a guide to people on the ship, showing people around and giving a short tour
- You can be a general helper – welcoming people and answering questions for example
- You can help us spread the word about the event in the run up to it – for example by letting people know about it in advance or raising awareness through local networks for example
- You can also help out at Open Ship events for potential JST partners or funders, versus general public events
We know the enthusiasm and willingness of our supporters who volunteer their time resonates with people who come on board and consider sailing with us.
How does it work?
A regular Open Ship runs from 10am – 12pm, and from 1:30pm – 5pm, but these hours could vary. We close at lunch time to make sure all our volunteers get a chance to eat some of our cook’s delicious food, and take a break! We would volunteers to make the whole day if possible, which would start at 9am for a full briefing and tour walk through from a member of Permanent Crew, and then you would help putting up the various signs and information boards ready to welcome members of the public onboard at 10am. If you can’t make the whole day it isn’t a problem, just let us know.
Sometimes the ports we call into have additional security, that means we can’t freely invite members of the public to see us. In these ports we ask people to sign up for pre-booked tours. It is normally a requirement that all visitors must turn up with ID on the day to be allowed into the port. We escort visitors from the port entrance to the ship, divide the group into smaller groups, and then give guided tours.
Some ports like us to do things slightly differently, and so we adapt our plans to make sure we keep them happy and our visitors and volunteers safe!
I’m interested in helping out. What next?
Just email community@jst.org.uk to register your interest and we’ll be in touch as the time gets closer.
These are a brilliant opportunity to come together in your local area with JST friends and make the most of the opportunity to raise awareness of our amazing voyages.
