Member Article

Sunderland Marine charity expands with £315k investment

A charity which provides challenging Outdoor Education opportunities for young people is securing its long term future by expanding and improving its facilities.

Marine Activities Centre (MAC) is embarking on a £315k development project at its base at Sunderland Marina with support from NatWest and the Regional Growth Fund’s ‘Let’s Grow’ scheme.

The MAC owns and operates Sunderland Marina through a trading subsidiary company; any surplus produced by the commercial operation of the marina is used to support its charitable activities - delivering a range of subsidised outdoor and adventurous activities for schools, community groups, young people and other organisations.

The Marina itself is located at the mouth of the River Wear and is directly overlooked by the Marine Activities Centre. It was re-developed during the late 1990s revitalising the old North Dock originally designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the 1830s.

This investment will allow the MAC to replace the chain moorings installed in 1996 and install an additional thirty new pontoon moorings increasing the overall provision to 256 berths.

Pat Murray, chief executive of MAC, said: “This investment is all about securing the long-term sustainability of the Charity, as the Charity receives no revenue funding from local authorities or central government and relies entirely on the income it generates from the Marina.

“At a time when local authorities across the country are having to reduce access to this type of provision because of budget cuts, it is excellent news that with the help of funding through the ‘Let’s Grow’ Regional Growth Fund and guidance through the funding maze from NatWest’s Relationship Manager Doug McKenzie, we have managed to ensure that the young people of Sunderland can continue to enjoy these positive activities in the future.”

Simon Allen from the BE Group, which is administrating the ‘Let’s Grow’ fund on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, added: “In addition to the community benefits we were particularly pleased to support this investment as it secures 11 existing full time jobs a will create a further two new posts.”

NatWest’s Relationship Manager Doug McKenzie added: “MAC is a great organisation that offers a wonderful service to groups from across the region. We were happy to support this latest development and wish MAC every success for the future.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .