Volume 49, No. 15, September 07, 2006
Endeavours earn recognition

 

The success of the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme was toasted by members of the Admirals 100 Club including the Parliamentary Secretary Sandy Macdonald, Chief of Navy VADM Russ Shalders AO, CSC, RAN, and MCAUST RADM Davyd Thomas at a black tie dinner at the RAN Heritage Centre on September 7.

The event brought together 185 supporters of the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme (YEYS) which celebrated, among other things, the findings of a three-year study that the RAN’s youth development training builds positive social capital in young people.

The findings from the University of Sydney Study – Sailing into the Future – concludes that the challenge of going to sea to work as a team educates, develops and inspires Australian youth.

The Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Bruce Billson, said the YEYS and RAN staff offer a confronting and inspirational experience at sea which is very beneficial for young people.

“On each voyage, youth crew learn to work with a diversity of other young Australians adapting to living and working in a new environment while experiencing the challenges of learning new skills, while often experiencing tiredness and seasickness,” he said.

The study shows that these experiences in Young Endeavour translate over time into more enduring social skills such as self control, goal achievement and an outlook of trust, tolerance and cooperation, bringing benefits to the Australian community as well as to youth crew participants themselves.

Findings found that 76 per cent of youth crew participants said the voyage had a positive influence on their social skills, 85 per cent said their views on cooperation were enhanced by the voyage and 73 per cent said it shaped their views on tolerance.

Since 1988, over 9,000 youth aged 16-23 have sailed on Young Endeavour. Staffed by an RAN crew, embarked youth crew learn to work as a team to sail the 44-metre tall ship on the open sea.
During an 11-day voyage they experience challenges including climbing a 30m mast, setting sails, navigating, keeping watch and taking the helm and, on the final day of the voyage, taking command of the ship for 24 hours. Each voyage, the youth crew host visiting young people with disabilities for a half-a-day sail.

The Young Endeavour Youth Scheme receives $2 million in funding from the Commonwealth Government through the RAN..

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