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‘Ocean Women’ – Empowering women and girls to access the ocean

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Only 1/3 of women worldwide can swim. In many societies, women and girls don’t get equal opportunities to access and get to know and love the ocean.

In 2022 we supported Flossy Barraud and Aminath Zoona (Zuna) in partnership with The Manta Trust in launching ‘Ocean Women’ a multi-year, action-focused research project that aims to empower more women to access the ocean for recreation, with the eventual goal of improving connection to the sea for women and girls worldwide.

In tropical coastal communities like the Maldives – which is 99% ocean – forming a connection to the sea by physically experiencing it can improve women and girls’ interest in ocean conservation, access to careers, economic and social status, and well-being. Research also indicates that women are influential conservation leaders, so barriers to ocean activities can negatively impact conservation efforts.

Fear, societal stigmas, aesthetic ideals, lack of role models and lack of access to equipment can all widen the ocean-gender gap.

The program connects women to the ocean through swim, snorkel and dive training, growing confidence and driving positive change. Outcomes will include livelihood opportunities to help coastal communities develop and lead the conservation initiatives that work for them and future generations.

Later this year, Flossy and Zuna will train ten people on five Maldivian islands as swimming instructors, supporting them in developing programs to teach people to swim and snorkel on their islands for years to come!

This is just the beginning though; for more information, visit mantatrust.org/ocean-women, and for updates, follow @mantatrust and @saltedventuresswimmers on instagram.

Happy World Water Day!

Five ideas for being kind on Random Acts of Kindness Day 2023

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A “Random Act Of Kindness” is uplifting for the recipient and beautiful to witness.

Our team member Jo recently witnessed a moment of kindness while sitting in a queue of stationary traffic. Jo saw an arm appear out of the window of the car in front and hand a bunch of Tulips to an elderly lady who was being assisted down the hill. Jo recalled that the smiles on their faces spoke volumes.

Have you ever had your entire day improve because of a gesture of kindness from someone? Would you like the opportunity to make someone’s day a little better or change the trajectory of their life?

To celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day in our way, we recommend five projects from our community that you could sign up for or visit today (or any day) to spread some kindness.

Get to know your neighbours at Brightons Fitzherberts Community Hub – The Community Hub’s mission is to reduce food poverty and social isolation by welcoming and nourishing all with food, friendship, and fun! The hub offers a safe, inclusive space for all, where local people can come to eat and form lasting friendships.

The Real Junk Food Project Brighton runs a daily ‘pay as you feel’ community cafe from the hub using food that would otherwise go to landfill so in getting lunch at the restaurant you are supporting yourself, the community and the environment! You can even ‘pay ahead’ in a random act of kindness and buy a stranger their lunch.

Encourage someone to exercise – Brighton Table Tennis Club, based in the Fitzerberts centre, prioritises working with people who have the least access but would benefit most from playing and being part of the BTTC community. Thanks to their mass participation community model, anyone, anywhere in the world, can join their community and become an AllStar TT just by signing up and playing games.They also run open sessions for everyone who would like to develop their skills as a table tennis player. Do you know someone who could do with some endorphins or some fun? Suggest a game of table tennis.

Give the gift of language – Conversation Over Borders offers free online one-to-one English conversation tutoring for refugees and asylum seekers. They bring displaced people and the wider community together to facilitate human connection, reduce social isolation and build confidence in spoken English. Classes run for 8-week blocks. Working with the same person twice a week, you do not need to be a trained teacher to apply, and the COB team provides teaching support and resources for all of their volunteers. In volunteering for COB, you will show someone enormous kindness, empowering them to feel more confident, less isolated, and more welcome when they need it most. You never know; you may learn a thing or two yourself and make a friend for life along the way.

If volunteering sounds too much for you right now, then why not rehome your old devices and donate your tech to them here >.

Cheer someone on – On the 2nd of April, 2023, thousands of incredible people will partake in the Brighton Marathon weekend. You never know who might need a simple smile or a clap of encouragement to get them through. So if you have a little time to spare, get down to the sidelines, cheer someone on, and support those runners while they run to raise money and change people’s lives.

Give a virtual gift to a young homeless person – For as little as five pounds you can give a virtual gift through the Clock Tower Sanctuary website and buy anything from a hot roast dinner to support back into education. Your kindness and generosity will help homeless young people in Brighton & Hove begin to change their lives and find a way forward.

These are a few ideas for spreading kindness on Random Acts of Kindness Day and every day! A small act of generosity or thoughtfulness could change the trajectory of someone’s life and maybe even yours. The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation has compiled a list of free ways to 25 FREE Ways to Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day.

These small acts could change someone’s life forever.

Community Ping-Pong at Brighton Table Tennis Club

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Brighton Table Tennis Club was founded in 2007 with ‘the strong belief that table tennis can be used as a powerful tool in engaging people of all ages and transforming lives’. Tucked away in a buzzing sports hall off a side street in Kemptown, a melting pot of players come together. Here, the game is being used as the catalyst for building confidence, friendship, skills and community between people from diverse backgrounds, breaking down barriers and prejudice.

Brighton Tennis Club Match

BTTC started as a small grassroots project with only two old tables and now welcomes over 1,500 people to play in the club’s weekly sessions. The club primarily invites people who are marginalised to play, but also focuses on being inclusive to all and welcomes people with learning disabilities, young people from the Brighton Travellers’ site, Looked After Children, people with physical disabilities, people from the LGBT community and young asylum seekers, ranging from  2 to 98 years old!

As an example of their work BTTC write that ‘ Harry, Chris and Andrew are the first people with Down’s syndrome in any sport to gain a level one coaching qualification – all of them play and volunteer at the club.’ BTTC also have an extensive outreach programme which includes working weekly in prisons, coaching players to gain a table tennis qualification and are also the first sports club in the world to be awarded the status of ‘Club of Sanctuary’ in recognition of their support of Brighton’s refugee community.

Last year Enjoolata Foundation awarded BTTC a grant so that they could set up free pre and after-school sessions for local primary aged children. BTTC asked teachers to nominate children that they thought would most benefit from sessions – children in receipt of free school meals, children in care and those they think have really struggled during lock down. The project gives these children the opportunity to play in what might be their only extracurricular club, giving both them and their parents/carers the confidence to get involved in new activities. The project will continue through until April this year. To find out more about BTTC visit their website here.