INFORMATION PORTAL OF THE MARSHAL'S OFFICE OF THE KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE Region IN TORUŃ

The regional government will finance the construction of a school under sail – a 30-meter-long brig with a steel hull and a 350-meter sail area, taking 23 crewmen on board at a time. The vessel will be launched three years after the start of the investment. Five hundred young residents of our region, recruited among others from disadvantaged backgrounds, will be able to participate in the sea adventure every year.

 

– This project is dedicated primarily to young people from such backgrounds, including young people with disabilities. Those who do not even dream of a vacation at the sea, let alone a sea cruise. We also dedicate it to young sea enthusiasts, students of our region’s schools, because marine education is a school of characters. This will not be a yacht for the rich! I think this venture is the greatest thing in the world that we can realize within the framework of our innovative education project, stressed Marshal Piotr Całbecki.

 

In addition to the voivodship’s host, today’s meeting with journalists included representatives of the Polish Scouting Association, the Polish Scouting Association of the Republic of Poland, educators, sailing instructors working in Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodship educational institutions, representatives of the Polish Sailing Association and the Polish Association of Sailors with Disabilities, youth and staff from the Inland Navigation School Complex in Nakło nad Notecią.

 

The maritime education of characters was discussed by yacht captain Katarzyna Domanska of the Polish Sailing Association: – There are no luxuries. There is full dexterity, from cooking and cleaning to navigation and night watches, the need to cooperate in a group, responsibility, overcoming weaknesses, self-discipline, personal development.

 

– It was a pleasure to observe the participants of our [regional government-funded in winter] Pogoria cruise. They had to count on each other, get along with each other, fighting [at the same time] with seasickness, with sleeplessness. I am very impressed, reported Mariusz Krzeminski, a teacher at Grzybno Elementary School in Chełmno County and a participant in that cruise. – If the youngsters are like this, we can sleep well.

 

– We cooperate with schools under sail. This gives good results, our students become more independent thanks to it, said Szymon Biały from the Braille School and Educational Center in Bydgoszcz, where blind and visually impaired youths study.

 

– There is a great demand for such cruises for the disabled. From our perspective, the idea is excellent, added yacht captain Waldemar Woźniak of the Polish Association of Sailors with Disabilities.

 

We decided to build a sailing ship, because in the perspective of a few years it is cheaper than both chartering and buying a used vessel. We estimate the cost of the purchase at 12 million zlotys, and this is how much we have guaranteed for this investment in the province’s budget, but we assume that 85 percent of this sum will ultimately come from EU funds. We also plan to use EU funds to finance the ongoing operation of the Dar Kujaw i Pomorza (about 3 million zlotys a year), but we are also counting on the local governments of our province, which run educational institutions, to join in.

 

– Of course, there will be those who think that this is money badly spent, that it could have been spent on something else. But let them say it to people with disabilities, young people from communities at risk of social exclusion, all those with whom we are implementing this project in mind. We are building an inclusive voivodeship, we think not only about those who can afford everything, concluded Marshal Piotr Całbecki.

 

We are currently preparing a tender procedure to select the shipyard where the unit will be built. The tender will be announced in the next few weeks.

 

Beata Krzemińska

Spokesperson for the Marshal’s Office

 

December 9, 2024.