Restoration help needed

Restoration help needed

Docklands businesses have been called to help complete the restoration of the tall ship Alma Doepel.

The restoration of Australia’s last remaining three-masted schooner needs $50,000 a month for materials and skilled shipwrights to get her back in the water early next year.

Once in the water, the fit-out can start and Alma can return to her much-needed work with Australia’s youth.

Alma Doepel is entering the final critical stages of the hull restoration with the frames nearing completion, meaning the planking stage will soon start. The licence on shed 2 was recently extended until June 2019, when Lendlease wants the site, so there is an urgency to complete the work.

Fundraising is ongoing and the major fundraiser for the year – the Alma Gala Luncheon and Fundraising Auction – is scheduled for Friday, August 24. The guest speaker is Sandra Pankhurst, who is the subject of The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein, which recently won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award.

Sandra was involved with Alma in the mid-‘90s and is an advocate for the youth sail training program and its measurable effect on attitudes and behaviours of trainees.

Docklands businesses are invited to become luncheon partners. There are a number of levels starting at just $200.

Young trainees who participate in off-shore sail training programs show measurable improvements in social confidence and their ability to work with others ... and the benefits are sustained over time.

For further details on how to become a supporting partner, email [email protected]

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