The Friends of MV Freedom
Nick Churchill looks back at 35 years of making the sea accessible to all
Published in August ’19
MV Freedom embarks on another trip
‘Our groups have been taking part in trips on MV Freedom for many years and it’s an activity that we all look forward to. The trip offers everybody an opportunity to enjoy the experience of being at sea and gives people a real sense of Freedom, perspective and most importantly a sense of achievement. The crew always go that extra mile to make it inclusive, enabling everyone to participate as fully as possible whilst having a great deal of fun at the same time. ’
So wrote Sue Munts of Muntsy’s Community Care, Portland, which provides day services for adults with learning disabilities.
From its Weymouth home, the MV Freedom to which she refers provides access to the sea for those who live with disability. The charity that runs the boat is well on its way to realising its ambition of funding a new vessel to continue its mission to take those that cannot normally enjoy the sea for a wonderful maritime experience.
Passengers love to take the wheel of the MV Freedom, sometimes with remarkable benefits to their wellbeing
The idea for a boat to meet that specific need was first floated by the Acorns Day Centre in Grosvenor Road as far back as 1982. Within two years the charity had been registered and the first boat launched, with the organisation being run by the Friends of MV Freedom. That first vessel operated for ten years until increasingly stringent safety standards resulted in the purchase of the current boat, a twin-hulled Blythe 33 catamaran that had previously been in service as a sue fishing boat.
MV Freedom’s dolphin ‘guide’ often appears to conduct its own ‘tour’ of Weymouth Harbour, much to the delight of passengers and crew
‘She’s 27 years old now and more than earned her retirement,’ says Dirk Aldous, a former Dorset Police Chief Constable, who is a trustee of the Friends charity and one of four MV Freedom skippers. ‘We’d looked at second-hand boats before deciding that the cost of finding the right boat and then having it modified to suit our purpose did not represent best value, so we are looking at buying new.’ Now, the fund is about two-thirds of the way towards the projected £300,000 it would take to build and equip a new MV Freedom and the charity has entered exploratory negotiations with boat-builders.
The trouble with a new boat is that you have to be a good two years ahead of yourself because that’s how long it takes to design, build, launch, trial, test and deliver a new vessel. The charity has been saving for this new boat for more than eight years and for the first time they are able to see the final figure as achievable.
The view of Durdle Door from the sea is always a highlight of a trip aboard MV Freedom
Weather permitting, the present MV Freedom runs two trips a day from Weymouth Harbour five days a week between April and October. With a skipper and two crew, she carries up to twelve passengers and has four wheelchair spaces. She is fully accessible by wheelchair, the seating is secure and most of the deck area is enclosed so that passengers can be sheltered and warm should the great British weather take a turn for the worse.
Trips, generally to Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, Ringstead Bay or around Portland Harbour and maybe Portland Bill in calmer seas, tend to last about two and a half hours with time to drop anchor and enjoy a bite to eat. There’s music for those who fancy a song and dance, or plenty of peace and quiet for more contemplative groups – not to mention the world-class coastal scenery.
‘We even have our own dolphin guide who meets us and gets on the bow wave as we follow him around the harbour,’ says Dirk. ‘The passengers love it when that happens. He’s definitely the same dolphin and we only ever see him on his own. On one occasion I was shouting at him to show us his tummy and, blow me, if he didn’t turn over not once but twice to show us his white tummy – the passengers thought I must be some kind of dolphin whisperer when that happened. I’m convinced dolphins recognise us on some level and that day he really loved the attention as he slalomed between the two hulls.’
MV Freedom’s skippers and crew are all trained and life jackets are worn at all times by everyone on board. There are two eight-man life rafts and five different radios aboard and the skipper checks in regularly with the coastguard and port authorities so they are aware of her location.
In 2012 the Paralympic flame arrived in Weymouth aboard the MV Freedom
‘Safety is paramount, as you’d expect,’ explains Dirk. ‘Mercifully we’ve never had an incident, although we have responded to other distress calls, as we are obliged to do, of course, and last year attended the tragic incident at Durdle Door when a little girl was swept out to sea from the beach. That was impossibly sad. Other vessels were on the scene before us, but we have to be prepared for such eventualities.’
MV Freedom carried some 1500 passengers last year, a figure that has been steadily rising in recent years. Passengers are encouraged to make a nominal donation of £5 a head towards fuel and running costs, but the boat costs about £20,000 to operate, so fundraising is an ongoing operation that has seen the charity’s income gradually increase. Donations from individuals and local businesses have been going up, which is a clear sign that MV Freedom is seen very much as a Weymouth charity.
The local councils, businesses, residents and holidaymakers are very generous. Now the charity is working to explore legacies and to apply for sponsorship and grants from the corporate bodies that have much more structured applications. That means they have to gather more information about the lasting benefits of what they do.
It is increasingly recognised that both mental and physical well-being are greatly enhanced and improved by having access to the outdoors; this is an assertion that is borne out by the testimonials and responses to passenger questionnaires gathered by the Friends of MV Freedom. Such evidence, although sometimes anecdotal, is often incredibly moving.
‘We have a regular passenger who comes with his three carers and books the boat out for a trip on his own,’ says Dirk. ‘He doesn’t want to go far, but his condition is such that he gets very stressed around other people. During and after a trip, though, his carers report that he is a different person: much calmer and more engaged. Another passenger who used to come quite regularly and sat on his own without ever getting involved was talked into driving the boat one day by one of the crew and he was completely transformed. We don’t see him any more as he has now got a job and is too busy to come on the boat, but he wrote the most touching and heartfelt poem to thank us. Things like that are really quite special.’
Individual passengers are welcome to book places on trips and many do, but most come in groups from care homes, social clubs, special needs schools and other support groups, recently including military veterans.
The charity exists to serve those who live with disability, but takes a very broad definition of disability and passengers have a diverse range of incapacity with different needs. Carers are welcome as well and very often they are able to enjoy the respite that the trips can offer. Dirk makes it very clear that MV Freedom is not in competition with any of the commercial operations in Weymouth: ‘In fact we get along very well with them because they know we provide a service they are unable to.’
The charity would love to extend its catchment area, although regular passengers come from Bridport and some travel from as far afield as Bath. The aim is to expand the service into a seven days a week operation, but more volunteer skippers and crew would be needed to do that. Like any charity, the Friends would welcome more volunteers, but they need to be aged eighteen
or over and available for two trips a day during the season.
‘Weymouth is an amazing community in so many ways,’ enthuses Dirk. ‘There is an absolutely genuine sense of old-fashioned community spirit that you just don’t come across very often. People look out for one another and they’re very happy to get involved in local projects that benefit the community. We provide a unique service locally to meet a very specific need and I think that
is appreciated by the people of Weymouth and Portland, particularly those that are living
with disability.’
www.mvFreedom.co.uk
Bookings: 07974 266867
