Cal and Lorna from Seaful along side Tom from North Sands Water Sports talking with pupils from Salcombe Primary School.
I'm thrilled to share our journey with the recent Ocean Ambassadors and Seaful collaboration, Peer to Peer Pilot. We ran this with Salcombe Primary School.
The goal was simple yet ambitious: to foster a deeper ocean connection among young people and identify potential Seaful Ambassadors. We had some fantastic activities, from classroom workshops to beach workshops and stand-up paddleboarding sessions. The enthusiasm of the kids, their understanding of the ocean, and their eagerness to engage were truly heartwarming.
However, as often happens in life, things didn't go exactly as planned. Despite the enthusiasm, we found that our objectives weren't fully met. But here's the twist - this 'setback' became a catalyst for something even more exciting!
We realised that while these young students had a good understanding of the ocean, their existing connection to it meant they didn't fully grasp the deeper aims of our project. This insight was invaluable. It led us to rethink our approach and audience for the Ambassador programme, shifting our focus to a slightly different demographic who might not have such direct access to the ocean.
While we didn't hit all our targets, this pilot was a stepping stone towards our new Youth Ambassador programme.
This pivot is exciting! We're now exploring partnerships with organisations to bring the beauty and importance of our oceans to a wider audience. The learnings from this pilot are shaping a programme that's more impactful and far-reaching.
So, although we didn't achieve what we initially set out to, we've gained something much more significant: knowledge, direction, and the drive to make our Youth Ambassador programme a beacon of hope and change as well as bringing to fun and education to the children of Salcombe.
A huge shoutout to everyone at Salcombe Primary School, our volunteers especially Tom at North Sands Water Sports , and the Seaful team for making this pilot a memorable one.