Dive Project Cornwall, an educational programme to teach 400 schoolchildren across the UK to learn to dive and become ‘PADI Torchbearers’ has launched a Crowdfunder campaign to raise an additional £40,000 to enable to project to go ahead.
Launched on World Oceans Day in June 2021, Dive Project Cornwall began accepting registrations from schools to enter a competition to earn a place on the programme in January this year. The not-for-profit community interest company has raised over £180,000 so far, and is seeking the extra funding to ensure that the programme continues, following a rise in costs for the provision of services.
In a statement on the Crowdfunder website, project founder Andrew Forster writes: ‘Since its inception, like many organisations, Dive Project Cornwall has seen their cost base rise exponentially with increases in almost every provision being offered. It is vital that funding is secured to ensure the project is delivered with no scaling back.’
More than 4000 schools were contacted following the programme’s launch, of which 259 have registered an interest. Dive Project Cornwall’s organisers estimate they have reached 300,000 young people to highlight the importance of ocean protection.
Twenty winning schools will be selected from 60 shortlisted finalists following a competition to create a marine creature from single-use plastics and write a 500-word essay on the importance of ocean conservation. Twenty students from each winning school will head to Porthkerris in Cornwall on the south coast of England, where they will spend six days earning their PADI Open Water Diver certification and learn about marine conservation.
For more information on Dive Project Cornwall, visit www.diveprojectcornwall.co.uk. To donate to the campaign, visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/dive-project-cornwall
