WHEN Narberth and Whitland Rotary Club started the Welsh Dragon Boat Event two year ago with the hope of raising some funds for charity they have exceeded all expectations by raising £25K over the past two years.

Mary Adams the Marketing Officer and PR officer for the Club commented: “The main aim of holding the Welsh Dragon Boat Championships was to raise money for the people of Wales.

We always said Money raised in Wales would stay in Wales. We are very passionate about welsh charities and all the money raised will help people locally.”

The theme chosen for 2016 as beneficiary of the Welsh Dragon Boat Championships is “support for young people with the development of their Life Skills and Additional Learning”. We intend to address three stages of education and development.

Princes Trust Wales, with funding, aim “to help 13 to 30 year-olds who are unemployed or struggling at school to transform their lives.”

Secondary school aged pupils with funding for Life Skills and ALN (at two secondary schools)

Primary school aged children with funding for ALN (at 12 primary schools and two support groups)

We believe that these three mutually compatible areas are deserving of our efforts and the contributions of our sponsors, without whom our work would be significantly diminished.

The Prince’s Trust Cymru supports 13 – 30 year olds who are unemployed and those struggling at school and at risk of exclusion.

Many of the young people we help are in or leaving care, facing issues such as homelessness or mental health problems, or have been in trouble with the law. PTC programmes give young people the practical and financial support needed to stabilise their lives.

The Princes Trust help young people develop skills, prepare for work and improve their confidence, improving motivation and attendance at school, work out whether selfemployment is right for them by helping them to test their ideas, write plans and start their own businesses, or achieve other goals in education, training, volunteering or work, overcome barriers and get their lives working with cash awards and mentor support for those leaving care or prison.

Also developing personal and social skills through residential schemes, group activities and tailored one to one support.

The Welsh Dragon Boat Funds will also raise funds for the two Additional Learning Departments of our two local Secondary schools Ysgol Dyfryn Taf in Whitland and Ysgol Preseli in Crymych. We will also hope to involve approximately 12 Primary Schools and two support groups in our immediate area with the same theme.

To give you an idea of how many young people require additional help at school or colleges. Approximately one in five learners in maintained schools in Wales has Additional Learning Needs (ALN). ALN refers to learning difficulties or disabilities which range from problems in thinking and understanding, to physical or sensory difficulties and/or difficulties with speech and language.

But they can also be social problems – how they relate to and behave with other people, or emotional and behavioural difficulties. The largest categories are “moderate learning difficulty” (24.2%), behaviour, emotional and social difficulties (22.7%) and speech, language and communications needs (16.3%). A much smaller proportion of pupils have physical disabilities (3.8%), visual or hearing impairments (3.4%), and autism spectrum disorders (8.1%).

Young people who need additional help in school have a huge battle and we feel that anything we can do to help them in their quest for success in a demanding job and skills market is worthwhile.

There is still a last minute opportunity to book your boat if you are p[passionate to help us raise these funds.