Triple gold and silver medallist Ben Ainslie took time out from his training regime to receive over £5,000 from Palmers Brewery to help young or disabled people enjoy the thrill of sailing with the Chesil Trust.

Ben was on hand at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA). Along with David Dunn, Chairman of the Trustees of the Chesil Trust. They took care of the cheque donated by Palmers Brewery of Bridport.

5p from every pint

For every pint of Palmers’ Dorset Gold sold in Dorset, 5p is donated to the Trust. In the last year more than 115,000 pints were sold, making over £5,700 for the Trust. Sales of Dorset Gold have grown rapidly since its introduction in 1999. The ale is now available in bottles as well as on draught, with 5p per bottle on every bottle sold across the UK going to the Trust. In total, Palmers has donated over £16,000 since it began supporting the Chesil Trust in 2007.

This premium fine ale is particularly popular in the summer months, and is now stocked at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA).

The Chesil Trust assists in the provision of facilities for training in sailing and seamanship and other activities. To date the Trust has enabled almost 9,000 children to go sailing for the first time. It has also assisted talented young sailors from Dorset, who between them have won a number of major competitions. These include three Gold medals at theWorld Youth Sailing Championships. One of these young sailors has now joined the Team GBR Olympic Development Squad.

World class venue

Much of the activity funded by the Chesil Trust takes place at WPNSA. Many of the young people therefore get their sailing experience at the venue for the sailing competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

Cleeves Palmer, Sales and Marketing Director at Palmers Brewery, said: ‘Sailing is not a sport many would be able to do without the help from the Chesil Trust. Through donations like these, Palmers is pleased to help introduce youngsters to the sport and see their interest grow from strength to strength.’

The Chesil Trust, SailLaser, the Weymouth Outdoor Education Centre (WOEC) and WPNSA are actively working together to provide reduced-rate community sailing programmes. Although the academy is the Games venue and a training ground for the UK’s top sailors including Olympic Gold Medallists Nick Dempsey and Ben Ainslie, it also aims to promote the sport of sailing to all levels of competence and ability. It does this through courses, training and events, while supporting and working closely with the local Dorset community.

David Dunn, Chairman of the Trustees of the Chesil Trust, said: ‘Generous donations such as this from Palmer’s Brewery allows for the continual development of community sailing both at WPNSA and WOEC, providing opportunities to build a sporting legacy.

‘Through SailLaser and WOEC, the academy has already run a number of successful events in conjunction with the Chesil Trust. These include the ‘SSE Sail for a Fiver’ initiative with local school children. Chesil Trust events have always been a tremendous success and thanks to the Palmers Brewery we can introduce more children to the exciting sport of sailing.’