Paralympic gold medal winning sailor Helena Lucas has teamed up with youth charity UKSA to become one of their ambassadors.
Helena made history claiming gold at London 2012, becoming the first ever female winner of the male dominated Paralympic class and Britain’s first ever Paralympic sailing gold medallist.
UKSA offers transformational opportunities to young people through sailing and watersports, from their main base in Cowes, Isle of Wight, and other sites around the UK.
Helena explained: “I’m proud and excited to be ambassador for the wonderful youth charity, UKSA. UKSA uses sailing and watersports as a catalyst to help young people. They know that being out at sea, facing a challenge and working both individually and as a team can make you a more positive, more able person. It gives you confidence, it raises your self-esteem. This is something I strongly believe in and I am very happy to be lending my support to such a fantastic charity.”
UKSA’s Director of Operations, Ben Willows, said: “We are thrilled to have Helena onboard supporting UKSA and we look forward to working closely with her in the future. Helena is a fantastic role model for our students and shows that anything is possible, she is quite an inspirational figure and someone we are proud to be affiliated with.
“We have 9,000 young people a year come through the doors here at UKSA and we show them there are no barriers to enjoying the freedom of the water whether they are interested in racing, sailing, watersports, or working in the maritime industry. We are looking forward to working with Helena to inspire our students even further.”
Helena is now setting her sights on competing in Rio in 2016.
UKSA has been named the official charity of Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week.