Scalloway Peerie Club Visits Swan

The Club, for primary 1 to 3 children from any area of Shetland, meet on Saturday afternoons and carry out a range of indoor and outdoor activities. Sonia Inkster, Volunteer at Scalloway Peerie Club, said: “The kids always enjoy getting outside but there was extra excitement for their trip to Swan. They had seen her berthed at Port Arthur and up on Moores slip, but now they were actually getting aboard! We had 14 enthusiastic children lining up to put on their life jackets before boarding. Once onboard, they were shown so much on deck, and had great fun testing their strength hoisting one of the sails. Below deck they were shown around the galley and found it very funny calling the toilet “the Head”.

"We were so lucky we could fit this in before we closed for the summer, and it was a great final activity for the children. The Swan is such an important part of Shetland’s heritage and, supporting the Swan Trust to continue in the great work they do is important so that future generations can benefit from their knowledge, experience and sailing activities.”

Welcoming them aboard the Swan were Trustee Brian Wishart and Operations Committee member Ailish Parham. Although the visit was just for an hour, the bairns explored all of the boat, heard about her heritage and her new sailing adventures, discovered the names for particular parts of the boat, learned about how the boat works and even raised one of the sails!

Brian Wishart commented: “With Covid stopping all of our activities for over a year, it is great to have folk back aboard, especially bairns. As teaching bairns about our heritage and how to sail is at the heart of the Trust, it is fitting that members of a youth group were the first visitors we welcomed back to the Swan. Their enthusiasm in learning about the boat is infectious. I hope we welcome them aboard again in the future, possibly through their school, as a future youth sail trainee or even a Trust volunteer, Trustee or crew member.”

The day was rounded off with a question and answer session and colouring sheets to take away as a memento of their day. On the way back to the youth centre the children spoke about their visit, with highlights including “when we were pulling the rope and the sail went up!” and “going down the ladder below decks and seeing where the crew slept.”

The Trust is planning a range of youth sails this year, working with Sail Training Shetland and local schools, as well as trips for the public.

Find out more about the Trust's youth sail training work here.

If you would like to help support Swan follow these links to donate or volunteer with the Trust.

Anyone can sail on Swan, for details of trips available to book check out our upcoming trips