We often don’t recognise that with neurodivergency, often comes the challenge of belief in oneself. I’d be lying if I said that this wasn’t a challenge for me, or one that I don’t still face on a daily basis.
The roots of this go back to childhood. With many around me at my first primary school not properly supporting me for my needs, even as a child I felt that no-one believed in me, a belief that was soon transferred to something I believed about myself.
When I started sailing as a teenager, a lot of this started to change. I found myself driven to push any boat I got in to its absolute limits. And people around me started noticing, and encouraged me to do more. This wasn’t without challenges. In society we often struggle to believe in neurodivergent people, so people are naturally inclined to be cautious about what things I can achieve. Nevertheless, I persisted, and here I am now.
I do however, have a lot to thank for the people who still believe in me. The Oxford sailability volunteers who supported me in becoming independent and encouraged me to progress further. The instructors who took me under their wing as I learned and started to teach alongside them. The Andrew Cassell Foundation volunteers who support me throughout months of training and big events such as Cowes week. And I can’t forget my parents, as well as the awesome few who mentor me and believe in me even when I’m at my absolute lowest.
I want to give back for these people who believe in me and push me to go beyond what I thought was possible. I feel the best way to do this is to support two fantastic organisations, Oxford Sailability and the Andrew Cassell Foundation. Oxford Sailability provide an inclusive environment that allowed me to find my love for sailing as a neurodivergent person, and become more independent in a positive environment. The Andrew Cassell Foundation support me to take this independence to a new level – giving me support that allows me to train and compete with and against both disabled and non-disabled sailors. Both these organisations have enabled me to access new environments – sailing itself and later coaching – and helped me push myself to do more than I ever believed I could do.
I feel the most fitting way to celebrate this is to do a crazy sailing challenge. I’m planning to sail a Challenger trimaran around the isle of wight. The Challenger is a singlehanded dinghy, that has provided me a stable platform to get into racing in an inclusive environment. This has helped me grow my confidence in competitive events, alongside improving my skills in a boat focused around speed.
I’m hoping to raise £10,000 for these organisations. Due to the time it takes to plan a safe and successful rounding, I’ll be attempting this voyage during Summer next year (2025), and in the meantime I’ll be providing updates on my Instagram (@sailingbex) and this blog. The link to the crowdfunder can be found below:
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/pushing-the-boat-out-bex-sailing-challenge
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