Who are we?
Sailing Sibongile is a community initiative, aimed at reducing suicide through the promotion of behaviors to enable good mental health.
Why are we crowdfunding?
Entering, and being competitive in the Golden Globe Race (GGR), is key to building 'massive' awareness of the project.
Costs associated with Sailing Sibongile (See-bong-Ghee-leh) are circa £20k per year, excluding the plans to pay for volunteers' costs, or even staff to run the business side of the initiative.
Putting a boat in the GGR, and completing it, is budgeted at circa £120k (verified through consultation with multiple previous participants). Although the aspiration is to have much of that sponsored by equipment manufacturers, I believe we should aspire to raise the full amount in order to have a contingency fund.
So we are crowd-funding for the ongoing costs, but mainly as a way of being competitive in the GGR.
How we’ll spend the money raised
None of the money raised will be used for purposes other than the aforementioned.
Funds will only be spent on berthing, boat maintenance, contributions towards affiliated skippers' costs, staff/volunteer related costs, and GGR entry (in its totality).
Full P&L reports can be provided.
Community impact
"Sibongile" is a Zulu word, and it means "We are grateful".
We believe wholeheartedly that the work we do, the information, advice, and guidance we provide, and the awareness of what can be done to promote good mental health and positive behaviors, can go a long way to reducing the devastation caused by suicide.
We can already evidence multiple examples of how Sailing Sibongile has turned around the lives of some of the people who have been in contact with us. Some of whom have not even set foot on one of the boats.
For some, sailing is not 'their thing'; maybe because of seasickness, or fears of the water. However, we have been able to have a positive impact even outside of sailing; and sometimes this is purely because Sailing Sibongile is proof that "somebody does care about you".
How you can play your part
There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.
1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!
2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!
4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!
Please support Sailing Sibongile.
Please promote Sailing Sibongile.
..and if you can, come and join us sailing on Sibongile.
Oh, and if you are curious, please get in touch with us about the history of this project, and why it's called Sailing "Sibongile".